CABINET OFFICE

Charitable Donations

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps his Department is taking to increase legacy giving.

Nick Hurd: Legacy giving is worth 4.5% of the voluntary sector's total annual income. To support this we introduced an inheritance tax reduction which will grow over the next few years, and by 2016-17 we expect to spend over £100 million on this measure. Estates leaving 10% or more to charity will receive a 10% cut in the inheritance tax they owe.
	In August 2013, along with Remember a Charity, I wrote to all solicitors in England, Wales and Scotland to highlight the research published by the Behavioural Insights Team which showed that simply asking people if they would like to leave money to charity in their will doubled the proportion of people leaving legacy gifts.

Charities: Taxation

John Spellar: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent discussions he has had with the Charity Commission about action to prevent tax fraud by charities.

Nick Hurd: Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is responsible for tax matters. Where tax fraud involving charities is suspected, the Charity Commission works closely with HMRC under the terms of their memorandum of understanding.

Cybercrime

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what measures he is considering for raising public awareness of cyber security.

Francis Maude: Raising awareness is a key pillar of this Government's transformative National Cyber Security Programme.

Death: Children

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the Chief Medical Officer's report Prevention pays—our children deserve better, what the (a) top 20 causes of paediatric deaths in children under five years of age in England, (b) the top five causes of death from infectious diseases in children under five years of age in England were in each of the last three years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2014
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the (a) top 20 causes of paediatric deaths in children under five years, of age in England and (b) top five causes of death from infectious diseases in children under five years of age in England were in each of the last three years.
	Table 1 provides the number of deaths for the top 20 causes of death among children under five years of age (excluding neonatal deaths, which are deaths under 28 days), for deaths registered in England from 2010 to 2012 (the latest year available). A copy of Table 1 has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
	Table 2 provides the number of deaths for the top five causes of death from infectious diseases among children under five years of age (excluding neonatal deaths), for deaths registered in England from 2010 to 2012 (the latest year available).
	Individual causes of death are coded by ONS using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). The causes of death shown in the table are groups of codes designed for the tabulation of deaths according to ‘main’ causes.
	The number of deaths registered in England and Wales each year by sex, age and cause are published annually on the National Statistics website at:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/all-releases.html?definition-tcm%3A77-27475
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of deaths of children under five years of age for the top five causes of death from infectious diseases, deaths registered in each year from 2010 to 2012 in England1,2,3,4,5,6 
			 Year Rank Cause Deaths 
			 2012 1 Influenza and pneumonia 44 
			  2 Meningitis 27 
			  3 Acute respiratory diseases other than influenza and pneumonia 20 
			  4 Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (infections) 18 
			  5 Septicaemia 15 
			     
			     
			 2011 1 Influenza and pneumonia 59 
			  2 Meningitis 30 
			  3 Acute respiratory diseases other than influenza and pneumonia 23 
			  3 Septicaemia 23 
			  5 Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (infections) 21 
			     
			 2010 1 Influenza and pneumonia 44 
			  2 Meningitis 27 
			  3 Acute respiratory diseases other than influenza and pneumonia 20 
			  4 Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (infections) 18 
		
	
	
		
			  5 Septicaemia 15 
			 1 Figures are based on deaths registered, rather than deaths occurring in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Further information on registration delays for a range of causes can be found on the ONS website: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/user-guidance/health-and-life-events/impact-of-registration-delays-on-mortality-statistics/index.html 2 Cause of death is defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth revision (ICD-10). More details about how leading causes of death are grouped can be found in an article by Griffiths et al (2005) available here: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/article.asp?ID=1301&Pos=2&ColRank=1&Rank=224 3 Figures exclude neonatal deaths (deaths under 28 days). 4 Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (infections) refers to ICD-10 codes P35 to P39 ‘Infections specific to the perinatal period’. Further information can be found on the WHO website: http://apps.who.int/classifications/icd10/browse/2010/en#/P35-P39 5 Based on boundaries as of August 2013. 6 Figures exclude deaths of non-residents.

Electronic Government

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what consultations his Department conducted with other Government Departments and agencies when developing the template for the pan-government web platform gov.uk; what pilot studies were conducted on the user-friendliness of that platform; what reports were prepared on the feedback from such pilots; what the cost was of developing the platform; and what feedback has been received from users since the platform went live.

Nick Hurd: Gov.uk was developed in an open, iterative, agile way, placing user needs at the core of design process. The prototype was shared with stakeholders and internal users initially as an alpha then beta version, providing the opportunity for ongoing comment and improvement.
	Information is continuously gathered from research, analytics, and user feedback and is used to inform development priorities. Analytical data are publicly available on gov.uk's performance platform:
	www.gov.uk/performance
	The total cost of gov.uk from April 2011 to the end of March 2013 was £16.2 million. This includes the cost of the alpha and beta build in 2011-12 of £4.6 million; and the cost of building and running gov.uk in 2012-13 of £11.6 million.
	The establishment of gov.uk has provided a substantial saving compared to the predecessor websites Business Link and Directgov.

Government Departments: Telephone Services

Frank Field: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of calls made on (a) higher rate and (b) 0845 telephone numbers to each central government department in each year since 2007.

Nick Hurd: Each Department is responsible for its choice of contact numbers and the Cabinet Office does not hold the information requested.
	In December, Government published guidance for departments on prefix number selection. The guidance states that it is inappropriate for callers to pay substantial charges for accessing core public services, particularly for vulnerable and low income groups. The guidance includes a strong set of principles for departments, noting that for core services, departments should use prefixes offering a geographic rate call as a default policy position.
	More generally, our digital-by-default policy aims to provide online public services which are so good that people do not need to use other channels. Further details are available on gov.uk/transformation.

Internet

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 17 December 2013, Official Report, column 587W, on electronic government, when he plans to update the digital landscape research.

Nick Hurd: The research was published in November 2012—we do not think it is a good use of resources to update the document at this stage.

Migration: EU Nationals

Mike Thornton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how his Department calculates the number of EU migrants that (a) enter and (b) leave the UK annually.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2014
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to respond to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how her Department calculates the number of EU migrants that (a) enter and (b) leave the UK annually.
	ONS is responsible for publishing official estimates of immigration and emigration. The methodology uses data from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) to estimate Long-Term International Migration (LTIM), with adjustments made for asylum seekers, people whose intentions change with regards to their length of stay, and migration to and from Northern Ireland. LTIM estimates adhere to the UN definition of a long-term international migrant, which states that a long-term migrant is a person who changes his or her country of usual residence for a period of at least a year.
	The detailed method used for calculating long-term migration to and from the UK can be found within the LTIM Methodology document published on the ONS website:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/method-quality/specific/population-and-migration/international-migration-methodology/long-term-international-migration-estimates-methodology.pdf
	The IPS is a continuous voluntary sample survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics. It covers the principal air, sea and Channel Tunnel routes between the UK and countries outside the British Isles. In total, between 700,000 and 800,000 IPS interviews are conducted each year for migration purposes. Of these, between 4,000 and 5,000 interviewees are identified as long-term international migrants. Citizenship is recorded according to the nationality of the passport held by the interviewee. For further information regarding the quality of the IPS in relation to migration, please see the following document on the ONS website:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/method-quality/specific/population-and-migration/international-migration-methodology/international-passenger-survey-quality-information-in-relation-to-migration-flows.pdf

Unemployment: Halton

Derek Twigg: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of 16 to 24 year olds in Halton constituency had two or more periods of unemployment in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14 to date.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2014
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what proportion of 16 to 24 year olds in Halton constituency had two or more periods of unemployment in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14 to date. (182254)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles unemployment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. The requested information is not available from this source because the survey is not designed to identify repeated occurrences of unemployment.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Electricity: ICT

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment his Department has made of the effect of data centres on electricity demand; and what discussions he has had with the industry on ways in which demand could be reduced without affecting performance.

Michael Fallon: The Department has made no such assessment. The Government do, however, recognise that data centres are large energy users and my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his autumn statement 2013 that we will introduce a climate change agreement for data centres. My officials, together with HM Treasury colleagues, are currently discussing with sector representatives how to enable those parts of the sector that have demonstrated they meet the qualifying energy intensity criteria to receive a climate change agreement. This will be subject to the necessary changes to legislation and negotiation with the sector of an agreed energy efficiency target which will be included in the final agreement.

Energy

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many meetings he had with the big six energy companies in October 2013.

Michael Fallon: Details of meetings between Ministers and external organisations are published quarterly on the departmental website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-energy-climate-change/series/ministers-meeting-with-external-organisations

Energy: Disconnections

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many domestic disconnections for non-payment there were in (a) 2013, (b) 2012, (c) 2011 and (d) 2010.

Michael Fallon: Ofgem monitors and publishes information about disconnections of domestic electricity supplies in its Domestic Suppliers' Obligations Annual Reports:
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Sustainability/SocAction/Monitoring/SoObMonitor/Pages/SocObMonitor.aspx
	The following table shows the number of domestic gas and electricity supplies that were disconnected due to debt in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The data for 2012 were published in the Domestic Suppliers' Obligations Annual Reports 2012 on 13 November 2013, so data for 2013 are not available.
	
		
			  Gas Electricity 
			 2010 813 1,988 
			 2011 331 921 
			 2012 104 453

Energy: Housing

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many (a) households and (b) individuals use off-grid energy in their homes in each constituency.

Gregory Barker: DECC publish estimates of the number of households without a gas connection by local authority. These are available on the Government website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sub-national-estimates-of-households-not-connected-to-the-gas-network
	These data are not available for number of individuals.

Energy: Prices

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of households that will see their gas and electricity bills increase as a result of the limitation of the number of tariffs which gas and electricity suppliers can offer.

Michael Fallon: Limiting the number of tariffs gas and electricity suppliers can offer domestic customers is part of a package of measures Ofgem is introducing to make the energy market simpler, clearer and fairer for consumers.
	The aim of the package is to ensure that consumers are not paying more than they need to and that they are presented with clearer choices and better information to help them shop around more easily for the best deals and increase competitive pressure on suppliers. Bills may continue to rise for other reasons, principally the rising cost of fossil fuels, but we expect them to be lower as a result of these measures than they would have been otherwise.

Green Deal Scheme

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households have had energy efficiency measures fitted through the Green Deal scheme since its launch.

Gregory Barker: The Department regularly publishes Official Statistics on the number of energy efficiency measures installed through the Green Deal and the Energy Company Obligation, the latest of which was published on 19 December:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-deal-and-energy-company-obligation-eco-monthly-statistics-december-2013--2
	By the end of October 2013, a provisional 388,128 measures had been installed in around 336,000 properties, through the Energy Company Obligation, Cashback and Green Deal finance, of which 98% were delivered through the Energy Company Obligation. A fuller breakdown on measures installed is in the published statistics.

Hinkley Point C Power Station

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 31 October 2013, Official Report, column 576W, on Hinkley Point Power Station, what the evidential basis was for the conclusion that there would be no significant effect on Ireland of the new nuclear plant at Hinkley Point.

Michael Fallon: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change granted development consent for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C in March 2013.
	The decision to grant development consent referred to the advice of the Planning Inspectorate that there should be no significant transboundary impacts from Hinkley Point C. It also referred to the European Commission's opinion under Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty that the disposal of radioactive waste from interim storage facilities at Hinkley Point C was not liable to result in radioactive contamination of another member state that would be significant from the point of view of health. The Secretary of State also took into account the conclusion of the National Policy Statement for Nuclear Power Generation, published in July 2011, that significant transboundary effects arising from the construction of new nuclear power stations were not likely, due to the robustness of the regulatory regime.
	The Secretary of State's decision to grant development consent is available at:
	http://infrastructure.planningportal.gov.uk/projects/South%20West/Hinkley-Point-C-New-Nuclear-Power-Station/

Radioactive Waste

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment he has made of the licensing of nuclear facilities to utilise the UK's existing nuclear waste stockpile.

Michael Fallon: The UK's inventory of radioactive waste and materials consists of a number of categories including: wastes (ie those materials defined as having no further use), spent fuels and other nuclear materials such as plutonium and uranium. Not all of these materials have potential for re-use.
	The Government’s preferred route for the management of the plutonium stocks is re-use as mixed oxide fuel (MOX) in conventional nuclear reactors. The facilities for the manufacture of MOX fuels would need to be assessed and approved by the UK's nuclear regulators prior to construction and operation.
	As part of its assessment of credible alternatives to reuse as MOX, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is also examining the use of fast reactor technology and an alternative form of MOX. Should these alternatives be pursued in the future, the requisite facilities would need to undergo regulatory assessment prior to construction and operation.
	Fast reactors, if commercially deployed, may also provide usage routes for some elements of the spent fuels stored, subject to appropriate regulatory assessment.
	The UK waste inventory includes some materials which physically cannot be utilised, such as vitrified high level waste and concrete emplaced intermediate level wastes. The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management spent three years undertaking an examination of practical routes for the disposition or use of higher level radioactive wastes. Their report (CoRWM doc. 700) concludes that geological disposal preceded by safe and secure interim storage is the best available option.
	The report can be found at:
	www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/236694/_CoRWM_3100_ Work_Programme_2013-16.pdf

Solar Power

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the average length of time from the original application for large-scale solar projects to those projects coming online was in each year since 2009.

Gregory Barker: The Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD) tracks the progress of all projects 0.01MW and over from submission of a planning application through to determination and generation:
	https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract
	As at the end of November 2013, the REPD shows:
	
		
			 Average time taken (days) from application submitted to generation 
			  2009 2010 2011 2012 20131 
			 Solar 387 594 195 308 400 
			 1 January to November. Note: Excludes projects with incomplete data

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when his Department plans to consult on changes to the Warm Home Discount for 2015-16 onwards.

Gregory Barker: We plan to consult on changes to the Warm Home Discount for 2015-16 in spring this year.

Wind and Solar Power: Planning Permission

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  how much (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind capacity (i) received planning approval and (ii) was rejected in each year since 2009;
	(2)  how many planning applications for (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind farms were (i) approved and (ii) rejected in each year since 2009;
	(3)  how much large-scale solar capacity has had planning approval (a) accepted and (b) rejected in each year since 2009;
	(4)  how many planning applications for large-scale solar projects have been (a) approved and (b) rejected in each year since 2009. [Official Report, 26 February 2014, Vol. 576, c. 6-8MC.]

Gregory Barker: The Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD) tracks the progress of all projects over 0.01MW from submission of a planning application through to determination and generation:
	https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract
	As at the end of November 2013, the REPD shows:
	
		
			  2009 2010 2011 
			  Number of applications Capacity (MW) Number of applications Capacity (MW) Number of applications Capacity (MW) 
			 Onshore Wind       
			 Approved 84 1182 83 996 102 1044 
			 Refused 32 409 37 681 51 591 
			 Offshore Wind       
			 Approved 0 0 0 0 3 466 
			 Refused 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Solar       
			 Approved 4 0.19 9 10 95 440 
			 Refused 0 0 0 0 7 32 
		
	
	
		
			  2012 20131 
			  Number of applications Capacity (MW) Number of applications Capacity (MW) 
			 Onshore Wind     
			 Approved 157 2140 141 1346 
			 Refused 88 856 134 1262 
			 Offshore Wind     
			 Approved 2 942 6 1819 
			 Refused 1 540 0 0 
			 Solar     
			 Approved 98 606 141 1241 
			 Refused 10 52 31 282 
			 1 January to November.

Wind and Solar Power: Planning Permission

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what the average length of time between the original application for (a) onshore wind farms and (b) offshore wind farms to the receipt of planning permission was in (i) 2009, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2011, (iv) 2012 and (v) 2013;
	(2)  what the average length of time between the original application for large-scale solar power development and the receipt of planning permission was in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012 and (e) 2013.

Gregory Barker: The Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD) tracks the progress of all projects 0.01MW and over from submission of a planning application through to determination and generation:
	https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract
	As at the end of November 2013, the REPD shows:
	
		
			 Average time taken (days) from application submitted to planning approval 
			  2009 2010 2011 2012 20131 
			 Onshore wind 173 223 259 289 288 
			 Offshore wind — — 729 1190 439 
			 Solar 77 89 74 82 114 
			 1 January to November. Note: Excludes demonstration projects and incomplete data

Wind Power

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the average time was from the original application for (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind farms to those wind farms coming online in 2013.

Gregory Barker: At the end of November 2013, the average length of time from submission of a planning application to full generation in 2013 was 214 weeks for onshore wind and 316 weeks for offshore wind.
	Source:
	The Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD)
	https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract

Wind Power

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much has been paid out in constraint payments to generators of electricity from wind farms in each of the last three years.

Michael Fallon: Constraint payments relating to England, Scotland and Wales are made by National Grid through competitive market arrangements in order to help ensure the secure operation of the electricity system. Details of most individual constraint payments to wind farms are published at
	www.elexon.co.uk
	and
	www.bmreports.com
	and aggregated data on payments to wind farms are published in its “Monthly Balancing Services Summary”, which is available at
	http://www2.nationalgrid.com/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=28139
	Energy policy in Northern Ireland is devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive. Constraint payments are a commercial matter between the Single Electricity Market Operator (SEMO) and the generator.

Wind Power

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of UK electricity has been generated from wind energy in each of the last five years.

Gregory Barker: The following table shows the proportion of UK electricity generated from wind energy in 2008 to 2012. Provisional data for 2013 will be available on 27 March 2014.
	
		
			  Proportion of UK electricity generation from wind (percentage) 
			 2008 1.8 
			 2009 2.5 
			 2010 2.7 
			 2011 4.2 
			 2012 5.4 
			 Source: Tables ET 6.1 (wind generation) and ET 5.1 (total electricity generation) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/renewables-section-6-energy-trends https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-section-5-energy-trends

NORTHERN IRELAND

Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (Prescribed Criteria and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulation

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) recorded offences and (b) convictions have occurred for offences under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (Prescribed Criteria and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 (S.R., 2009, No. 39), as amended, in each of the last five years.

Theresa Villiers: These matters are no longer the Government’s responsibility; the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Devolution of Policing and Justice Functions) Order 2010 made during the previous Government in which the right hon. Lady served, transferred responsibility for them to the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland when policing and justice was devolved on 12 April 2010.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Personnel Management

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what the cost was of human resources support per employee in the House of Commons Service in the latest period for which figures are available.

John Thurso: The cost of human resources staff in the House of Commons per member of staff was reported in a recent external report as £4,343.
	The report noted that this cost was higher than some external benchmarks. However, the human resources service at the House of Commons includes a higher level of support for line managers than provided in many other organisations. The definition of human resources support also includes learning and development and a team responsible for processing payroll changes.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture: Sustainable Development

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the objectives of the inquiry into the sustainability of UK farming and food sectors are; and how they will apply to Northern Ireland.

George Eustice: The Government have not announced an inquiry into the sustainability of the UK farming and food sectors. The EFRA Select Committee announced their inquiry into food security on 28 October 2013, with a call for written evidence from interested parties. Further information can be found at:
	http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/environment-food-and-rural-affairs-committee/news/food-security/
	DEFRA submitted written evidence to the Committee in December, which included contributions from a number of other Government Departments.

Agriculture: Weather

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assistance his Department makes available to farmers for dealing with the effects of bad winter weather;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with the responsible Ministers in the Welsh Government, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive on steps to address the effects of winter weather on farming.

George Eustice: DEFRA has convened a Farming Resilience Group comprising leaders from industry, the Met Office, banks and charities to support farmers in becoming more resilient to severe weather. Since May 2013, the group has agreed a 10 point plan of action. This includes working with the Met Office to develop tailored weather warnings for farmers, and considering options for an industry-led mutual fund which farmers could call on in an emergency. Work is continuing to deliver the plan. Advice on safeguarding animal welfare in severe weather is available on the DEFRA website.
	While farming is a devolved matter, these issues are regularly discussed at official level. For example, DEFRA has recently worked with the Welsh Government and the Cabinet Office to publish information specifically for farmers as part of the Met Office’s “Get Ready for Winter” website. This provides a range of advice, guidance and sources of further help in dealing with the impacts of winter weather.

Air Pollution

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on how many occasions his Department has advised people to stay indoors because of poor air quality in each year for which data are available.

Dan Rogerson: The Government publish regular forecasts and information about air quality on the UK-Air website at:
	http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/forecasting/
	This includes health advice on what to do during high pollution episodes. However, it is not our policy to advise people to stay indoors. Historical data on this are not maintained. For localised incidents such as fires, explosions or chemical leaks, Public Health England (PHE) maintains records where advice has been given for affected communities to stay indoors. As it would take several days for PHE to collate this data, they have not been included in this response.

Beaches: Dungeness

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will give consideration to requesting an urgent review of the proposal for shingle recycling at Dungeness, Kent.

Dan Rogerson: Kent county council is best placed to make a judgment about the merits of restarting shingle recycling activity at Dungeness, as it is the local planning authority. Kent county council is expected to consider this matter in January 2014.
	DEFRA cannot provide advice on specific planning cases as they may come before Ministers on appeal.

Flood Control

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total capital sum spent by the Environment Agency on (a) coastal and (b) river flood defences was in each of the last five years.

Dan Rogerson: The Government capital budget allocated by the Environment Agency to flood and coastal risk management schemes in each year since 2009-10 was:
	
		
			 £ million 
			 Financial year Coastal schemes Fluvial schemes 
			 2009-10 88.5 139.0 
			 2010-11 83.2 159.1 
			 2011-12 56.7 101.1 
			 2012-13 62.2 95.6 
			 2013-14 72.8 145.4

Flood Control: Hartlepool

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding his Department spent on flood defences in Hartlepool constituency in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09, (c) 2009-10, (d) 2010-11, (e) 2011-12 and (f) 2012-13; and how much funding his Department has allocated for flood defences in Hartlepool constituency in (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15 and (iii) 2015-16.

Dan Rogerson: I can report the following previous Flood and Coastal Risk Management Grant in Aid (FCRM GiA) spend for capital works in the Hartlepool constituency.
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2007-08 0.1 
			 2008-09 1.8 
			 2009-10 0.6 
			 2010-11 1.1 
			 2011-12 1.7 
			 2012-13 5.7 
		
	
	FCRM GiA allocation for 2013-14 is £3.6 million. Allocations for 2014-15 onwards have not yet been made. Allocations for 2014-15 will be confirmed by the Environment Agency Board in February 2014.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what places in the High Speed 2 safeguarded area or within half a mile of that safeguarded area (a) have been flooded in the past two months and (b) are considered to be at risk from flooding.

Dan Rogerson: From information currently available it does not appear that the safeguarded area for HS2 has been significantly flooded during the last two months. However, there could be some flooding arising from local sources that has not yet been recorded. This information will be captured and collated once the current emergency response has concluded.
	The safeguarded area for phase one of HS2 crosses just over 100 watercourses, each of which will have a degree of flood risk associated with them. The scale of that risk will depend on the precise alignment of the route. At present this has not been fully assessed, nor has an assessment been made for the phase two routes.

Internet

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether access to any websites or domains is blocked from computers in his Department; and if he will publish a list of all such websites and domains to which access is prohibited.

Dan Rogerson: Access to websites and domains which may contain malicious content or to which staff are not permitted access under the DEFRA Acceptable Use policy are blocked from the computers in core DEFRA.
	Websites are blocked that contain material that is illegal or could reasonably be regarded as offensive, obscene or otherwise inappropriate. For example, pornography, offensive or harassing statements or language including disparagement of others based on their race, national origins, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or transgender, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, age, disability, religion or belief, gambling, illegal trading, and any activities that could lead to financial or legal consequences or reputational damage to the DEFRA network.
	DEFRA’s website provider operates this policy according to these generic types on a regular basis. Any list would be quickly out of date and is not held by the Department.

Peat

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to phase out the use of peat in garden compost.

George Eustice: The Natural Environment White Paper set out our ambition to end the use of peat through a voluntary partnership with the horticultural sector by 2030.
	The Government response to the Sustainable Growing Media Task Force report was published in 2013 and is available to view on the gov.uk website. It set out where our resources will be focused over the next few years to assist in the transition to sustainable growing media and reduced peat use. We are committed to working with the industry to deliver the roadmap towards sustainable growing media and to overcome the barriers to peat reduction. For example, we are supporting the development of a performance standard and criteria for responsibly sourced and manufactured growing media.
	A policy review will take place in 2015 to assess the delivery of the roadmap and to identify further actions necessary.

Poultry: South Africa

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 17 December 2013, Official Report, column 567W, on poultry: South Africa, when he expects the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa’s investigation into dumping practices to be concluded.

George Eustice: The investigation is being carried out by an independent body in South Africa who have not provided an indication of the time scale for completion. We are monitoring the situation closely.

Public Footpaths

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of (a) the accessibility of registered footpaths and (b) their state of maintenance.

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA has not made an assessment of the accessibility or state of maintenance of registered footpaths. Local highway authorities are responsible for ensuring the accessibility and the maintenance of public rights of way, including footpaths.

Seeds: EU Action

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations his Department has made to the European Commission on behalf of UK gardeners and allotment growers regarding proposed regulations on the sale of seeds within the EU.

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA represents the UK in Council Working Parties, where the proposed regulation on the marketing of plant reproductive material is being negotiated with the European Commission and other member states.
	The positions adopted are based on discussions with stakeholders and devolved Administrations. In all cases, DEFRA has and will continue to push for simpler regulations for ornamental plants and for material sold to gardeners.
	DEFRA has supported ornamentals sector representatives in explaining the issues to the European Commission, resulting in a constructive meeting with the Commission official leading the original drafting. DEFRA is also supporting MEPs in their role as co-legislators for the proposals.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Burma

David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Government of Burma complies with international law and grants citizenship to the Rohingya in that country.

Hugo Swire: The situation in Rakhine State and the rights of the Rohingya community were at the heart of discussions between the Prime Minister and President Thein Sein during his visit to the UK in July 2013. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs also pressed for a long term solution on the issue of Rohingya citizenship that is consistent with their human rights and we welcome the Government's stated commitment to initiating such a process. Our ambassador discussed citizenship with the authorities and communities involved during his visit to Rakhine State in December 2013. Together with the UN, EU, US, Australia, France and Japan, British Ministers and officials continue to lobby key Burmese Ministers with responsibility for Rakhine State on the full range of issues, including the need to resolve the citizenship status of the Rohingya community.

Burma

David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking in response to claims that ethnic cleansing is being committed against the Rohingya in Burma.

Hugo Swire: The British Government have been among the most vocal members of the international community about the plight of the Rohingya community. We continue to make clear to the Burmese Government that where serious crimes have been committed, those who have perpetrated them must be held accountable for their actions. This should be done through a clear and transparent investigative and prosecutorial process that meets international standards. Further independent investigative work to fully establish the facts would be required for an informed assessment as to whether ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity have been committed.
	Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) staff are currently on the ground in Rakhine State, monitoring the human rights situation. We also continue to lobby the Burmese Government to allow the opening of a country office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, with a strong mandate which allows it to monitor the human rights situation in all parts of the country.
	We have raised these concerns repeatedly at the highest levels of the Burmese Government and will continue to do so. Indeed, the situation in Rakhine State and the rights of the Rohingya community were at the heart of discussions with President Thein Sein during his visit to the UK in July 2013. In December 2013, our ambassador discussed human rights issues with the authorities and communities involved during his visit to Rakhine State.

China

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the People's Republic of China about the detention without formal documentation of Pastor Zhang Shaojie of Henan Province, China, on 16 November 2013 and the subsequent alleged mistreatment of his lawyers.

Hugo Swire: We are aware of the arrest and detention of Pastor Zhang Shaojie and at least 20 of his parishioners on public order charges and the reported harassment of lawyers and Christians attempting to visit the group. We are monitoring developments in the case.
	Criminal justice reform and the rule of law, including torture prevention and treatment of detainees, has been a consistent focus of our human rights engagement with the Chinese authorities. We look to the Chinese Government to protect the rights of all their citizens, including freedom of religion, and we urge them to do so in line with their responsibilities under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the Chinese Government have signed, but not ratified.

Christianity

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the international community tackles the persecution of Christians.

David Lidington: My Department is working actively at both ministerial and official level to keep this issue at the top of the international community's agenda, and to take action in individual countries. We are working to ensure that states take practical measures on the ground to implement UN Human Rights Council Resolution 16/18, which focuses the international community on combating religious intolerance, protecting the human rights of minorities and promoting pluralism in society. During the UN General Assembly Ministerial Week at the end of September the Senior Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Warsi, convened a second meeting of international leaders to discuss what more politicians in particular can do to promote freedom of religion or belief and fight religious intolerance within our societies.
	We also regularly use international processes such as the UN Universal Periodic Review, EU Dialogues with third countries and Ministerial Council Decisions at the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE). As an example, we raised freedom of religion or belief with the Chinese and Saudi Arabian Governments during their Universal Periodic Reviews at the October session of the Human Rights Council. In September at the EU-Vietnam Human Rights Council Dialogue we highlighted, with our EU colleagues, concerns about the reported harassment of religious groups, the delays in registering churches and the refusal of the authorities to allow churches to train pastors.
	Furthermore we speak out bilaterally, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs did following the deplorable burning of Churches and attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt, and meet with local faith leaders to better understand their concerns. For instance the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Faversham and Mid Kent (Hugh Robertson), discussed the situation faced by Coptic Christians and implications of the new constitution in his meeting with Bishop Yulios during his recent official visit to Cairo in December. We also lobby against discriminatory legislation and practices and support projects which address this and help to encourage co-operation and understanding between different faith groups. For example we are currently funding a series of grass roots meetings in Iraq, led by Canon Andrew White, bringing together people from different faiths to combat sectarian violence.
	On 15 November Baroness Warsi gave a speech in Washington stressing the need for an international response to the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities. The Minister announced plans to host an international conference in the first half of 2014 on promoting the benefits of religious pluralism to encourage countries to protect this fundamental, yet threatened, human right.

Diplomatic Service

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which UK parliamentarians visited the (a) embassy or high commission and (b) residence of head of mission in (i) Angola, (ii) Democratic Republic of Congo, (iii) Mongolia, (iv) Papua New Guinea, (v) Indonesia, (vi) Equatorial Guinea, (vii) Venezuela and (viii) Turkmenistan in 2013, other than for the purpose of a ministerial, IPU, CPA or Select Committee visit.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office endeavours to provide guidance and support to UK parliamentarians visiting our posts overseas, when such visits form part of their parliamentary responsibilities. We are unable to provide information on private visits that individual UK parliamentarians have made to our posts overseas, which do not form part of their parliamentary work.
	In 2013, excluding ministerial, IPU, CPA and Select Committee visits, the following official visits by UK parliamentarians took place:
	(i) My noble Friend the Lord Marland visited the British embassy and residence in Luanda in October, as part of a visit in his capacity as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Angola;
	(ii) In May 2013, members of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for the great lakes visited the British embassy in Kinshasa;
	(iii) No UK parliamentarians visited the British embassy in Ulaanbaatar, as part of their parliamentary responsibilities, in 2013;
	(iv) No UK parliamentarians visited the British embassy in Port Moresby, as part of their parliamentary responsibilities, in 2013;
	(v) My hon. Friend the Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell), visited the British embassy in Jakarta as part of Westminster Foundation for Democracy sponsored visit. My hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham) visited the British embassy in Jakarta in January, April, June and November, as part of a visit in his official capacity as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Indonesia. In March 2013, members of the APPG for trade and investment visited the British embassy in Jakarta;
	(vi) The British Government do not have a high commission or embassy in Equatorial Guinea. Our relations with Equatorial Guinea are managed through the British high commission in Yaoundé in Cameroon;
	(vii) No UK parliamentarians visited the British embassy in Caracas, as part of their parliamentary responsibilities, in 2013; and
	(viii) My hon. Friend the Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry), attended official functions at the residence in Ashgabat in January and November 2013, in his capacity as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Turkmenistan.

Pakistan

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government have taken and plans to take to promote the protection of the Hazaras in Pakistan.

Hugh Robertson: We remain concerned about the violence faced by the Hazara population in Pakistan and continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to protect and guarantee the fundamental rights of all their citizens as laid down in the constitution and in accordance with international standards. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office closely monitors the situation in Balochistan as documented in the annual human rights report and quarterly updates.

Palestinians

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2013, Official Report, column 626W, on Palestinians, what views the Government communicated to the Palestinian Authority prior to or during the meeting of the International Olive Council on the Palestinian Authority's membership of the Council.

Hugh Robertson: Since the Palestinian UN General Assembly upgrade in November 2012, the Government have been clear in our belief that the focus should be on the negotiation process. To this end, we have noted our concerns about the potential impact of any Palestinian action to upgrade their status in UN bodies or international organisations with the Palestinian Authority. We raised the International Olive Council with the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in October 2013 in this regard.

Religious Hatred

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what conversations he had with the (a) EU and (b) World Bank on measures to prevent international aid funding from being used by non-governmental organisations to incite religious hatred.

Lynne Featherstone: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for International Development.
	DFID has a zero tolerance approach to discrimination and would not consider funding, directly or indirectly through multilateral contributions any projects that discriminate between individuals or groups of people on any grounds including race, sex, sexual orientation, religion and disability.

Russia

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support the Government have offered to the Russian Government following the recent terrorist attacks in that country.

David Lidington: Following the attacks in Volgograd the Prime Minister and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs wrote to President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov, offering condolences on behalf of the UK. The Prime Minister assured President Putin that the UK stands ready to help Russia bring those responsible to justice and to prevent any further attacks. We are also working with the Russian authorities on preparations for the Olympics and Paralympics Winter Games in Sochi, including on security issues.

Syria

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the situation of Christians in Syria; and if he will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: The plight of Christians and other minorities in Syria continues to be deeply worrying. We have serious concerns about increasing sectarian tensions and believe that President Assad has deliberately tried to stir up such tensions in an increasingly desperate attempt to hold onto power.
	The British Government place great importance on the right to freedom of religion for all. We condemn all instances of violence and discrimination against individuals and groups because of their faith or belief. We will continue to work with the Syrian people, countries in the region and our international partners to support a peaceful and democratic transition to a more open society that respects the rights of all of its citizens, regardless of their religion.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to prevent illegal migration onto the Turks and Caicos Islands and to reduce the number of potentially fatal journeys taken by such immigrants.

Mark Simmonds: Illegal migration from Haiti to the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), a UK Overseas Territory, is a very real problem, as made evident by the recent tragic incident on 25 December 2013, which led to at least 19 fatalities. I discussed this issue with the TCI Premier during our bilateral at the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council on 25 November 2013.
	The TCI Government have constitutional responsibility for immigration policy and border control, but the Government have a fundamental objective and responsibility for the security of TCI flowing from international law, our shared history and political commitment to the wellbeing of all British nationals. The Government have therefore provided substantial support to TCI, including funding for a radar station and training for marine police.
	The Government are encouraging the Haitian Government to step up their efforts to combat people trafficking, and to discourage their people from undertaking the dangerous journey by boat to TCI which may lead to their death and almost certainly to their detention and deportation. We are also supporting the TCI and Haitian Governments to develop practical co-operation. A Haitian consulate opened in TCI in February 2013. We are supporting negotiation of a Memorandum of Understanding covering deterring and combating illegal migration.

EDUCATION

Annual Reports

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to publish his Department's annual report and accounts for 2012-13.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education's 2012-13 accounts are now going through the final stages of audit review. Subject to clearance, we would anticipate laying them in mid-January 2014, before the statutory deadline of 30 January 2014.

Children: Cancer

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to support children with cancer in the education system.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education expects schools to understand and be aware of individual pupils’ needs and to provide them with appropriate support to ensure they have full access to education. Schools should work closely with relevant health and social care professionals, and with parents/carers to ensure that individual healthcare plans set out what support is needed for each pupil and how this will be provided.
	We have placed an amendment in the Children and Families Bill to create a new duty on governing bodies of maintained schools (and proprietors of academies) to make arrangements to support pupils at school with medical conditions and to have regard to statutory guidance. The guidance is currently being developed in collaboration with members of the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance, and other partners, and with parents and young people. We intend to consult on the draft guidance later this term.

Children’s Play: Disability

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his Department's policy is on the promotion of play for disabled children in schools.

Edward Timpson: Schools and teachers are best placed to decide how to support individual children to develop, including through play. The new national curriculum gives schools greater freedom to provide a broad and balanced curriculum.
	In determining their approach schools should be aware of their legal responsibilities. Schools have duties under the Equality Act not to discriminate against disabled pupils and to make reasonable adjustments. The Children and Families Bill also requires that a child with special educational needs
	‘engages in the activities of the school together with children who do not have special educational needs’
	where this is reasonably practical.
	The Department for Education provides grant funding for Project Ability. This aims to increase competitive opportunities for young disabled people. It is delivered through a network of 50 lead Project Ability schools, and helps schools in England to improve the quality of sport for disabled pupils.

Correspondence

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the (a) mean and (b) maximum time taken to respond to letters from (i) members of the public, (ii) organisations and (iii) hon. Members was in each year since 2010.

Elizabeth Truss: Information in the form requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Each year the Minister for the Cabinet Office publishes a report on Departments' and agencies' performance on handling Members' and peers' correspondence. Information relating to the Department for Education, covering all correspondence to which Ministers replied, can be found in the following editions of the Official Report:
	For 2010—28 March 2011, column 1WS
	For 2011—15 March 2012, column 30WS
	For 2012—13 May 2013, column 23WS
	The report on performance in 2013 will be published later this year.
	The Department for Education Annual Report contains figures showing the timeliness of all replies to correspondence (i.e. those from Department for Education Ministers and those from officials). The reports for 2010-11 and 2011-12 can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-annual-reports
	The report for 2012-13 will be published shortly.

Dyslexia

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  how many primary school children in (a) maintained and (b) independent schools are classified as having a dyslexia type condition;
	(2)  how many young people in sixth form education in (a) maintained and (b) independent schools are classified as having a dyslexia type condition;
	(3)  how many secondary school children in (a) maintained and (b) independent schools are classified as having a dyslexia type condition.

Edward Timpson: We do not collect information specifically on the number of pupils with dyslexia.
	Data on pupils with special educational needs are collected from maintained schools, academies and non-maintained special schools in the annual school census. Where the pupil is identified as being at school action plus or has a statement of special educational needs, their primary need is collected. Primary need is not collected for pupils in independent schools.
	The category of primary need collected that is closest to dyslexia is ‘Specific Learning Difficulty'. Data for the number of pupils with this primary need by type of school attended are given in the table.
	
		
			 Pupils with special educational needs with a primary need of ‘Specific Learning Difficulty’1 in state-funded schools2 in England, January 2013 
			  Number 
			 State funded primary schools3 30,360 
			 State funded secondary schools4-below sixth form (year 12) 37,190 
			 State-funded secondary schools4-sixth form (year 12 and above) 2,015 
			 1 ‘Specific Learning Difficulty’ includes those with dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia. 2 Excludes 1,030 pupils in maintained special schools and 60 in non-maintained special schools. 3 Includes maintained primary schools and academies. 4 Includes maintained secondary schools, academies, city technology colleges, university technical colleges and studio schools. Source: School Census 
		
	
	Information on special educational needs is published annually in the publication ‘Special Educational Needs in England', which is available online1.
	1 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-educational- needs-in-england-january-2013

Dyslexia

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what eligibility criteria are set for pupils to qualify for a free dyslexia test.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education does not set any eligibility criteria for dyslexia tests.
	Schools have a legal duty to use their best endeavours to make special educational provision for their pupils. It is for schools to decide how best to use their available budget to ensure that special educational needs are identified early and that appropriate support is put in place to meet this duty.

Further Education: Finance

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2014, Official Report, column 11, on further education (funding), when he will publish the impact assessment.

Matthew Hancock: We have published an impact assessment today, which can be found here:
	http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/i/impact%20assessment.pdf

London Academy of Excellence

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2014, Official Report, columns 70-2W, on free schools, when data on enrolments at the London Academy of Excellence will be available.

Edward Timpson: The London Academy of Excellence is one of seven open 16-19 free schools in the academic year 2013/14. It is the only 16-19 free school that provides data on its pupil numbers through the individualised learner record; this is the equivalent to the school's census return for further education institutions. The next return of the individualised learner record is due in February and we would expect to have the verified pupil numbers by the end of February. The 2014/15 allocations will include this information and will be published in October 2014.

Music: Teachers

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether music services teachers are (a) classified as having teacher pay and conditions and (b) under local council conditions and pay scales.

David Laws: There is flexibility for employers of music services teachers regarding the terms and conditions of employment offered. Music services teachers can be employed under the provisions of the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD).
	Alternatively music services employees can be employed as instructors under the local authority pay system. This is known as ‘Soulbury' terms and conditions.

Politics: Education

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans his Department has to increase teaching about parliamentary democracy and government in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.

Elizabeth Truss: Citizenship education is in the new national curriculum at key stages 3 and 4. The programmes of study, for first teaching in secondary schools from September this year, will improve pupils' knowledge and understanding of democracy, Government, and how laws are made and upheld. Primary schools are not required to teach citizenship, but may introduce relevant topics as part of non-statutory subjects including personal, social, health and economic education.

Pre-school Education

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which schools are trialling nursery places for two year-olds; and what assistance those schools are receiving from his Department.

Elizabeth Truss: The Government believe that high quality early education and child care has a positive impact on a child's later success and future outcomes. The evidence shows that starting younger, in high quality teacher-led provision, can have a real and lasting impact on children's development and life chances, particularly for those from the most disadvantaged families.
	We want more schools to offer nursery places and to extend these to two-year-olds. This will provide more choice and flexibility for parents and enable more children to benefit from all that a good school can provide.
	To support more schools to open nurseries and extend care to two-year-olds we are working with 49 schools, drawn from a variety of urban and rural settings, that are already taking, or preparing to take, two-year-olds. These schools will identify good practice, share their learning widely and encourage more schools to follow suit.
	The following schools are participating in the project:
	Benchill Primary School
	Bensham Grove Community Nursery School
	Broadclyst Community Primary School
	Brookside Infant School
	Canklow Woods Primary School
	Carr Manor Primary School
	Chesterfield School
	Crowmoor Primary School and Nursery
	Dulwich Wood Nursery School and Children's Centre
	Durand Academy
	Eden Park Primary School
	Goodway Nursery School
	Gooseacre Primary Academy
	Handale Primary School
	Hathersage St Michaels C of E (VA) Primary School
	Latymer All Saints Church of England Primary School
	Lever Edge Primary Academy
	Lillian de Lissa Nursery School
	Lord Street Community Nursery School and Preschool
	Medlock Primary School
	Moorgate Primary School
	Nell Gwynn Nursery School
	Netherfield Primary School
	Newall Green Primary School
	Norfolk Community Primary School
	Oakwood Primary Academy
	Oasis Academy Hadley
	Old Church Nursery School and Children's Centre
	Parbold Douglas C of E Academy
	Plumberow Primary Academy
	Richard Newman Primary School
	Robsack Wood Community Primary School and Nursery
	Shortbrook Primary School
	Sir Edmund Hillary Primary School
	St George's Cathedral Catholic Primary School
	St John Vianney RC Primary School
	St. Bede Primary Academy
	St. Mary's (C of E) Primary School
	Stoneyholme Nursery School
	Susan Isaacs Nursery School
	The Eldon Federation (Eldon Early Years)
	The Grove Nursery School, Children and Family Centre
	The Orchards Nursery School
	Tilery Primary School
	Trimdon Grange Infant and Nursery School
	Trinity Church of England Primary School
	Vittoria Primary School
	West View Primary School
	Whitchurch CE Infant and Nursery School.
	Schools participating in the demonstration project have each received a grant of £10,000 in return for their active participation in the project evaluation and providing peer support. The grant may also be used to contribute towards the development of appropriate resources, provide training for staff and for local leadership activities. Up to £2,500 of the grant can be used for capital purposes.

Pupils: Bullying

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what initiatives his Department has put in place to tackle bullying within schools and online since 2010; and what assessment has been made of their effectiveness.

Elizabeth Truss: As outlined in the Schools White Paper 2010, the Government have made tackling all forms of bullying one of our top priorities by striking a balance between schools’ legal requirements, freedom and accountability.
	Section 89 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 for maintained schools and the Independent Schools Standards Regulations 2010 for Academies and Free Schools requires that all schools must have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying among pupils, including that which occurs online. Schools have the freedom to shape these measures in the context of their pupils’ needs.
	In the Education Act 2011, we strengthened teachers’ powers to discipline pupils for poor behaviour, including bullying. They can now issue same day detentions, confiscate banned items and search for, and if necessary delete, inappropriate images on mobile phones which might be linked to cyberbullying.
	In 2011, the Government published streamlined advice for schools, reducing it from 481 pages to just 11 pages to make absolutely clear schools’ legal obligations to prevent and tackle bullying, and clarify teachers’ powers to discipline pupils for unacceptable behaviour.
	From September 2014, pupils in all four key stages will be taught about e-safety as part of the new curriculum. This will empower young people to tackle cyberbullying through responsible, respectful and secure use of technology.
	In addition, the Government have pressed for progress through the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) and works to protect children online, including from the risk of cyberbullying. UKCCIS brings together the most important internet organisations, such as Facebook and Microsoft, and is chaired by Government Ministers, including the Minister for Children and Families, my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr Timpson).
	Ofsted now holds schools clearly to account for their effectiveness in dealing with pupil behaviour, which includes bullying. Under the current Ofsted framework introduced in 2012, school inspectors consider pupil behaviour and safety, which includes how well schools prevent bullying, harassment and discrimination.
	Furthermore, the Department keeps abreast of research in this area and is funding a series of questions about bullying and cyberbullying in the 2013/14 and 2014/15 Crime Survey for England and Wales. This will give us a baseline estimate of prevalence and will help us to track trends over time.
	We are also providing £4 million of funding over two years from spring 2013 to four organisations: Beatbullying, the Diana Award, Kidscape and NCB, to develop effective initiatives to prevent and tackle bullying. As part of their funding, these organisations have in place separate evaluations, which will report on the effectiveness of their varied initiatives to prevent and tackle bullying.

Schools: Birmingham

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what guidance he has given Birmingham local authority on dividing extra funding for school places between the constituencies that fall under its jurisdiction;
	(2)  if he will take steps to ensure that funding for extra school places in Birmingham will benefit equally all children in Birmingham.

David Laws: The Department recently announced an additional £2.35 billion in basic need funding, to support local authorities to create the additional places that will be needed by September 2017, in addition to the £5 billion already committed for the period 2011-15. Birmingham has been allocated £96.29 million basic need funding for the financial years 2015-17, in addition to £61.45 million previously allocated for the period 2011-15.
	We expect local authorities to use the funding provided to create additional places in the areas where they are needed. This is likely to mean more investment in the areas that see the biggest increase in pupil numbers, so that all parents in Birmingham can be confident that their child will be able to secure a place in a good, local school.

Schools: Finance

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent discussions he has had with local authorities on funding allocation for schools.

David Laws: The Secretary of State for Education has not had any recent discussions with local authorities about funding allocation for schools.
	I have had seven meetings with representatives from local authorities to discuss issues relating to capital and revenue funding for schools. This includes meetings with MPs who were accompanied by local authority representatives.
	Officials in the Department also meet regularly with representatives from local authorities to discuss funding policy and allocations

Special Educational Needs

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidance his Department issues to teachers on the early detection of young people with dyslexia-type conditions.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education issues guidance on supporting Special Educational Needs (SEN) through the SEN Code of Practice. A consultation on a new Code concluded on 9 December 2013, and responses are currently being analysed.
	All schools are required to complete the phonics screening check with pupils in year 1. This will help identify children who have not reached the expected level of ability with phonics. Officials have worked with dyslexia organisations to provide advice on how to respond to the results of the check where teachers are concerned about dyslexia or literacy difficulties.
	The Department for Education is also funding the Dyslexia SpLD Trust to provide advice to schools on identifying and responding to specific learning difficulties. This advice includes a professional development framework and a toolkit to help teachers identify dyslexia earlier.
	These resources, including the guidance on responding to the phonics check, are available online1.
	1 www.thedyslexia-spldtrust.org.uk

Teachers: Surveys

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he intends to publish the findings of the most recent Teacher Workload Survey.

David Laws: Officials are currently analysing the data collected during the 2013 Teacher Workload Survey.

Teachers: Training

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what budget the National College for Teaching and Leadership has allocated to school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15; and what estimate he has made of the number of new SCITTs that will be supported in each of those years.

David Laws: School-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) enables more aspiring teachers to benefit from the experience and expertise of the best teachers in the country.
	Trainees undertaking their Initial Teacher Training (ITT) course at a SCITT provider on a tuition fee place fund the course fees themselves, either directly, or in the form of a student loan. Therefore, no NCTL budget is allocated for this in 2013/14 or in 2014/15.
	Training bursaries are, however, available to trainees depending on the subject in which they are training to teach and their degree classification. These are funded by NCTL. The training bursaries range from £4,000 to £20,000 in 2013/14 and £4,000 to £25,000 in 2014/15. Training bursaries payable are higher for those trainees training to teach in shortage subjects: mathematics, physics, chemistry, computing and languages.
	Tuition fee places delivered by a SCITT may be allocated directly to the SCITT as provider-led places or through a lead school for the School Direct (tuition fee) training programme.
	If the trainee is undertaking a School Direct (salaried) place, the NCTL funds the training costs and pays a contribution towards their salary costs while they are training to teach. The funding is paid directly to schools who will work with a SCITT provider to deliver the ITT training in partnership. The amount allocated for School Direct (salaried) places depends on the subject in which the trainee is training to teach and the geographical location of the school. The salary and training contribution ranges from £14,000 to £23,900 in 2013/14 and in 2014/15.
	The total budget allocated for these places will be known at the end of each academic year when the ITT providers are required to complete a full census return for their trainees.
	In addition to this funding a total of £300,000 has been allocated in 2013/14 to support the start-up of new SCITTs.
	There is also funding available to teaching schools in 2013/14 who become a SCITT provider, which will be borne from the existing teaching schools budget.

Teachers: Training

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what financial incentives the National College for Teaching and Leadership has offered to schools to become a school-centred initial teacher training provider.

David Laws: A support package to schools interested in becoming a school-centred initial teacher training provider (SCITT), including an average pilot financial grant of £17,000, was offered to schools to support their accreditation bid.
	This package was designed to increase school to school support through buddying opportunities with existing teacher training providers and deployment of Specialist Leaders in Education working across existing SCITTs.
	SCITTs enable more aspiring teachers to benefit from the experience and expertise of some of the best teachers in the country.

Teachers: Training

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools have been encouraged by the National College for Teaching and Leadership to express an interest in becoming a school-centred initial teacher training provider.

David Laws: Around 900 schools currently offering School Direct places in 2013/14, including teaching schools and academy chains, were signposted to information on becoming a school-centred initial teacher training providers (SCITT) via communications within the teaching school newsletter in October 2013 and a School Direct bulletin in November 2013.
	Schools that express an interest in becoming a SCITT are invited to attend a ‘potential new provider' briefing to find out more information. 38 schools attended a briefing in November and December 2013.
	SCITTs enable more aspiring teachers to benefit from the experience and expertise of some of the best teachers in the country.

Teachers: Training

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education for what reasons and when Ministers encouraged the National College for Teaching and Leadership to promote school-centred initial teacher training in addition to School Direct.

David Laws: The Secretary of State for Education set out the context for supporting schools to become school-centred initial teacher training providers (SCITTs) at a speech on improving the quality of teaching on 5 September 2013, saying:
	“As schools take more control over training the next generation of teachers, many of the best academy chains and teaching school alliances are now playing an even greater role in training the next generation of teachers as accredited SCITTs.
	We want to see their numbers increase, enabling more aspiring teachers than ever before to benefit from the expertise and experience of some of the best in the business—so we will be bringing forward proposals to support this later in the year.”

Teachers: Training

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will direct Ofsted to make a comparative assessment of the quality of training available through school-centred initial teacher training and other initial teacher training providers.

David Laws: There are currently no plans for the Department for Education to ask Ofsted to make a specific comparative assessment of the quality of training across different types of initial teacher training provider. Her Majesty's chief inspector advises the Secretary of State for Education of anything he should be aware of as a result of the inspections of all providers of programmes leading to qualified teacher status for maintained schools.
	However, a recent survey of newly qualified teachers/trainee teachers found that trainees/teachers consistently rated school-based training higher than other initial training providers across a range of criteria.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Bed and Breakfast Accommodation: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many families were housed in bed-and-breakfast accommodation on the most recent date for which data are available in (a) Barrow-in-Furness and (b) South Lakeland; and how many such families included children aged under 16.

Kris Hopkins: The following table provides the most recent data available recorded on 30 September 2013.
	
		
			  Households in bed and breakfast (including shared facilities) Of which: include dependent children/pregnant mothers 
			 Barrow-in-Furness 1 0 
			 South Lakeland 0 0 
		
	
	This Government have retained a strong homelessness safety net protected in law, supported by £470 million in the current spending review period to prevent and tackle homelessness, rough sleeping and repossessions.
	The law is clear that families with children must only be placed in bed-and-breakfast accommodation as a last resort and then for no more than six weeks.
	We are continuing to support local authorities to raise their game and have provided £2 million for seven councils struggling with increasing bed-and-breakfast use so that they can reduce numbers and develop long lasting solutions to this problem. The latest statistics show that, with the help of this funding, Westminster and Croydon councils have vastly reduced the number of families with children in bed and breakfast beyond six weeks. We publish performance data and have also provided £1.9 million for local authorities to take a Gold Standard approach to help them design and deliver more efficient and cost-effective housing solutions for vulnerable people.

Enterprise Zones

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimates his Department has made of the net number of jobs that have been produced by each enterprise zone since their creation.

Kris Hopkins: Enterprise Zones opened for business in April 2012, and since then, nearly 5,000 jobs have been created. This estimate is of gross jobs (and includes temporary construction workers). My Department does not have estimates of the number of net additional jobs created.

Fire Services: Pensions

Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many newly recruited firefighters have opted out of the firefighters' pension scheme in each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: Prior to April 2012, the Department did not collect information from fire and rescue authorities on the opt out rate among newly recruited firefighters.
	Between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013, excluding firefighters who joined on temporary contracts or were aged over 50 (and therefore likely to be already in receipt of a firefighter pension), 16 whole-time firefighters did not join the scheme, giving a joiner rate of 88%.
	Between 1 April 2013 and 30 September 2013, excluding firefighters who joined on temporary contracts or were aged over 50 (and therefore likely to be already in receipt of a firefighter pension), 10 whole-time firefighters did not join the scheme, giving a joiner rate of just over 85%.

Fire Services: Retirement

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he plans to take to prevent senior firefighter officers being able to retire, claim their lump sum pension sum and then return to work.

Brandon Lewis: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 18 November 2013, Official Report, column 650W.

Housing: Construction

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many hectares of land owned by county councils have been made available for housing development in each of the last three years.

Kris Hopkins: The Department does not collect information on how much land county councils have made available for housing development.

Local Government

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many communications his Department sent to local authorities in 2013.

Brandon Lewis: This Department has lead responsibility within Government for local government and therefore has regular communications with local authorities on a range of issues. In that context, it would be impractical to keep a list and the information is not centrally held.

Public Libraries

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak, of 18 December 2013, Official Report, column 755, which councils have opened new community library services in 2013; and which libraries have closed in English local authorities over the same period.

Brandon Lewis: My Department does not compile these statistics. I would note that Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy do publish annual statistics on public libraries, and the publication is available in the Libraries of both Houses.
	Their latest survey (December 2013) estimates there are 4,313 public libraries operational in the United Kingdom.
	I also refer the hon. Member to the answer of 5 September 2012, Official Report, column 349W, which gives examples of newly opened libraries.

Recycling: Fires

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate his Department has made of the costs to fire authorities of dealing with fires at recycling storage depots.

Brandon Lewis: We have made no estimate of the costs of fire and rescue authorities dealing with fires at recycling storage depots as this is an operational matter for local fire and rescue authorities.

Wind Power: Planning Permission

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on the time taken to receive planning permission for onshore and offshore wind farms.

Kris Hopkins: Ministers have regular discussions with other Government Departments on matters of mutual interest.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Consultants

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many consultants were employed by her Department in May (a) 2013, (b) 2012 and (c) 2011.

Justine Greening: The Department engaged 41 consultants in May 2011, 62 in May 2012, and 37 in May 2013.

Consultants

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the cost to her Department has been since May 2010 of paying consultants who were previously employed directly by her Department.

Justine Greening: Since May 2010, DFID has spent a total of £0.5 million on consultants who had previously been employed by the Department. The bulk of this was spent in 2010 and by 2013 the amount spent on consultants previously employed by the Department had been reduced by more than 90% compared to 2009.
	No former staff are currently engaged as consultants by the Department.

Consultants

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many former staff of her Department are now working as consultants for her Department.

Justine Greening: No former staff are currently engaged as consultants by the Department.

Developing Countries: Electricity

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what schemes her Department currently supports for off-grid electricity supply.

Alan Duncan: None.

Developing Countries: Females

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with the British Council about her Department's policy of improving the lives of girls and women through better education.

Lynne Featherstone: The UK places girls and women at the centre of its approach to education in developing countries as part of its Strategic Vision for Women and Girls. The UK's flagship £355 million Girls' Education Challenge will enable up to 1 million of the world's poorest girls to receive a quality education in primary and secondary school, to help transform their lives. I have had no recent discussions with the British Council specifically on girls' education but we do engage with them on all aspects of education and we have recently been in partnership through the Developing Partnerships in Higher Education Programme (Delphe) which ended in June this year, though further discussions on this programme are still ongoing. I and my officials would be happy to meet at the soonest opportunity with any organisation sharing our commitment to this important issue.

Developing Countries: Genetically Modified Organisms

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment her Department has made of the benefit to children in the developing world of golden rice.

Lynne Featherstone: DFID does not directly support the development and deployment of golden rice and has not therefore undertaken a specific assessment into the potential benefits. However, DFID is aware of several independent studies into golden rice and will be taking a close look at their results once the technology is closer to being made available to farmers in the Philippines.

Developing Countries: Sanitation

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate she has made of the progress her Department has made towards the target of reaching 60 million people with access to water, sanitation and hygiene by 2015.

Lynne Featherstone: DFID’s progress towards the target of providing 60 million people with access to water, sanitation and/or hygiene by 2015 was reported in DFID’s 2012-13 annual report and accounts. In total, 19.6 million people had received access to water, sanitation and/or hygiene through DFID support by June 2013.
	DFID continues to make progress towards this target and will provide an update in the 2013-14 annual report.

Energy

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department budgeted for energy costs since June 2010.

Justine Greening: DFID has budgeted £2.5 million for energy costs in its UK estates since June 2010.

Energy

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the total cost of her Department’s energy bills were in each month since June 2010.

Justine Greening: Details of DFID expenditure on energy in each of the UK offices is available on our website at:
	http://webview2.ecodriver.net/DFID/

Procurement

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of contracts awarded by her Department in 2012-13 were awarded without a competitive tender process.

Justine Greening: 0.6% of contracts awarded during 2012-13 required a waiver of competition to be applied.

Redundancy Pay

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what is the total cost of redundancy payments paid to former staff of her Department who now work as consultants for her Department.

Justine Greening: DFID has policies in place precluding the rehiring as employees, or the direct engagement as consultants, of former members of staff who have left DFID employment with a redundancy compensation payment within the past two years.

Redundancy Pay

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the highest redundancy package paid since June 2010 to former staff at her Department was.

Justine Greening: As this question relates to a single individual, the information is being withheld because releasing these details could lead to the individual being identified and would therefore breach the legitimate expectation of an individual's right to protection of their personal information.

South Sudan

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the effect of the recent conflict in South Sudan on the number of (a) internally displaced persons, (b) people subject to food insecurity and (c) young people in full-time education in that country.

Lynne Featherstone: The current crisis in South Sudan has seen the number of conflict internally displaced people (IDPs) increase rapidly by more than 200,000 from just over 188,000 in late 2013 to approximately 400,000 today. Given the scale and intensity of the violence, and lack of access to key affected areas, the real number is likely to be much higher.
	The number of people severely food insecure in South Sudan was estimated to be one million prior to the current crisis. Violence and displacement has resulted in the loss of livelihoods, particularly sources of food due to disruption in agricultural and pastoral practices, although active hostilities are impeding the ability of agencies to conduct a full assessment. As long as the conflict is ongoing, it is likely that severe food insecurity will increase, and IDP figures will escalate. Humanitarian agencies' priorities are to protect civilians from the ongoing violence and reach people affected by the crisis with assistance, including the provision of food. The UK has provided £12.5 million to the current crisis.
	Schools in South Sudan are ordinarily closed until February, and in some northern states this can be as late as April. We have therefore not yet seen any negative impact of the conflict on school attendance although it is not yet clear if school buildings, books and other materials have been damaged in areas of conflict. DFID has existing education programmes in South Sudan and we will be reviewing over the coming weeks how best to continue or adapt our support in the light of the evolving situation.

Visits Abroad

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which countries to which her Department has provided funding towards she has visited since she took office; and how long she spent in each such country.

Justine Greening: Details of all overseas visits undertaken by DFID Ministers are published under the transparency section of the DFID website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments %5B%5D=department-for-international-development &publication_type=transparency-data

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Betting Shops: Licensing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many appeals against refusals of applications for betting shop licences were heard by local authority licensing committees in the last year; and in how many cases the refusal was upheld.

Helen Grant: Licensing authorities are not required to report details of licensing committee appeals to the gambling regulator. Neither the Department for Culture, Media and Sport nor the Gambling Commission holds this information.

Broadband

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her policy is on promoting competition in provision of superfast broadband infrastructure; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: The Government aim to create the regulatory and economic conditions to enable competition to thrive in the provision of superfast broadband. The UK has one of the most competitive markets in Europe with customers able to experience excellent choice of services and prices. This has been achieved with appropriate and proportionate market regulation by Ofcom, established by carrying out detailed market reviews. This Government have also taken a number of actions to facilitate investment in infrastructure including ensuring access to BT's poles and ducts, streamlining planning rules and issuing new guidance on streetworks.

Broadband

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the progress BDUK has made towards its three business aims agreed with her Department in 2011.

Edward Vaizey: Substantial progress has been made by DCMS, including BDUK, in delivering on these aims which fall under the overarching objective to stimulate private sector investment in order to deliver the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015. The strategy for this objective was set out in Britain's Superfast Broadband Future published in December 2010 with a number of its detailed actions and objectives being refreshed in 2012.
	Progress includes ensuring access to BT's poles and ducts through the Passive Infrastructure Access (PIA) rule, significantly opening up investment opportunities for new providers and increasing coverage to the middle and “final third” of the population. In addition, a number of utility companies have entered into commercial agreements with Communications Providers and allowed their infrastructure to be used to deploy superfast broadband.
	Guidance on micro-trenching and street works issued in November 2011 to support local planning authorities in their understanding of the technical issues and speed up the planning decision process. Planning regulations were also relaxed last year to speed up the deployment of fixed broadband and mobile infrastructure and reduce costs to communications providers.
	All of the community-led pilot projects, Highlands and Islands, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Herefordshire are in delivery and Broadband Delivery UK published the learning from the pilots in November 2011. Broadband Delivery UK allocated funding to project areas in August 2011. All enterprise zones are covered by plans for delivering superfast broadband. More generally, BDUK-funded projects are now making superfast broadband available to 10,000 homes a week, which will rise to 40,000 premises per week later this year.
	The cumulative effect of these and other measures have directly contributed to the UK being in the top three EU member states for broadband coverage, take-up, usage and choice.

Broadband

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport for each of the areas eligible for support from BDUK, what proportion of the investment planned in superfast broadband will come from (a) public funds and (b) BT.

Edward Vaizey: Numbers currently available to BDUK suggest a split between public and supplier funding as shown in the following table, but these figures are subject to change.
	
		
			 Percentage 
			 Project BDUK, local bodies, ERDF Supplier investment 
			 Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes 70 30 
			 Berkshire 72 28 
			 Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire 75 25 
			 Cambridgeshire 76 24 
			 Cheshire 77 23 
			 Cumbria 82 18 
			 Derbyshire 71 29 
			 Devon and Somerset 76 24 
			 Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole 75 25 
			 Durham, Tees Valley, Sunderland and Gateshead 75 25 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 72 28 
			 East Sussex, Brighton and Hove 82 18 
		
	
	
		
			 Essex 71 29 
			 Greater Manchester 64 36 
			 Hampshire 70 30 
			 Herefordshire and Gloucestershire 79 21 
			 Highlands and Islands 95 5 
			 Isle of Wight 80 20 
			 Kent and Medway 67 33 
			 Lancashire 71 29 
			 Leicestershire 66 34 
			 Lincolnshire 77 23 
			 Merseyside 49 51 
			 Newcastle Upon Tyne 66 34 
			 Norfolk 73 27 
			 North and NE Lincolnshire 76 24 
			 North Yorkshire 75 25 
			 Northamptonshire 72 28 
			 Northumberland 85 15 
			 Nottinghamshire 69 31 
			 Oxfordshire 59 41 
			 Rest of Scotland 73 27 
			 Rutland 71 29 
			 Shropshire 81 19 
			 Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent 71 29 
			 Suffolk 78 22 
			 Surrey 74 26 
			 Wales 148 152 
			 Warwickshire, Solihull 78 22 
			 West Sussex 77 23 
			 West Yorkshire 60 40 
			 Wiltshire and South Gloucestershire 78 22 
			 Worcestershire 71 29 
			 1 The supplier investment in Wales includes investment in its commercial rollout.

Internet: Barrow in Furness

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the number of households without access to the internet at home in Barrow and Furness constituency.

Edward Vaizey: I refer the hon. Gentleman to answer given to him by the Minister for Civil Society on 14 May 2013, Official Report, column 138W.

Members: Correspondence

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton dated 3 December 2013.

Edward Vaizey: I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Gentleman. A response was sent on 9 January 2014. I am very pleased for him to join me in meeting with social media companies and officials from my Department will be in touch with details when a date has been agreed.

Mobile Phones: Fees and Charges

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of progress towards EU standard charges for mobile telephones.

Edward Vaizey: The EU’s third roaming regulation took direct effect in the UK in July 2012 and, as well as measures to promote competition, continues the downward glide path on caps for voice, data and SMS charges for consumers while they are roaming in Europe.
	The Government published a Telecommunications Consumer Action plan in December 2013, an agreement between Government and the main telecommunication operators about how to work together, with Ofcom, in the key areas that impact on consumers’ bills. The Government has made it clear in our 17 September announcement that we would like to see an end to mobile roaming charges within the EU. We will work with industry to develop a negotiating position with the aim of eliminating mobile roaming charges within the EU by 2016.

Museums and Galleries

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2014, Official Report, column 155W, on museums and galleries, which legislation governs the national museums and galleries.

Edward Vaizey: The information is as follows:
	
		
			 Sponsored body Primary legislation 
			 British Library British Library Act 1972 
			 British Museum British Museum Act 1963 
			 Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museum Acts 1920 and 1955 
			 National Gallery Museums and Galleries Act 1992 
			 National Museums Liverpool Merseyside Museums and Galleries Order 1986 
			 National Portrait Gallery Museums and Galleries Act 1992 
			 Natural History Museum British Museum Act 1963 
			 Royal Armouries National Heritage Act 1983 
			 Royal Museums Greenwich National Maritime Museum Act 1934 
			 Science Museum Group National Heritage Act 1983 
			 Sir John Soane's Museum The Charities (Sir John Soane's Museum) Order 1969 
			 Tate Museums and Galleries Act 1992 
			 Victoria and Albert Museum National Heritage Act 1983 
			 Wallace Collection Museums and Galleries Act 1992

Public Libraries

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what powers local library authorities have to charge, by annual subscription, reservation charge or loan charge, for loans of sets of music scores to borrowers living or working in their area; and what information she has on the use of those powers;
	(2)  what information her Department holds on the use by local library authorities of their powers to charge, by annual subscription, reservation charge or loan charge, for loans of sets of music scores to borrowers living or working in their area.

Edward Vaizey: The Library Charges (England and Wales) Regulations 1991 set out the circumstances where local library authorities may charge for library facilities. The regulations provide the power for local library authorities to charge for lending sets of musical scores. Local library authorities may also charge for the reservation of any library material, including in circumstances when it needs to obtain the material from other library authorities. The amount and incidence of any charge is at the discretion of the local authority and charges may be by way of an annual subscription. Information is not held centrally on the use of the powers as it is a matter for individual local authorities, however, DCMS understands that the loan of music scores is not a service that is provided by all local library authorities, but there remain some large ‘core’ collections which all local library authorities can access via the request service.

Telephone Preference Service

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Telephone Preference Service in blocking unwanted cold calls.

Edward Vaizey: The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is a free service and more than 19.5 million numbers are currently registered with them. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) considers complaints from consumers and can issue a monetary penalty of up to £500,000. Since January 2012, the ICO has issued four substantive monetary penalties totalling £360,000 in relation to unsolicited marketing calls being made to TPS registered consumers and action against 15 other organisations is also under consideration. In spring 2014, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) and ICO will be reviewing the effectiveness of the TPS in preventing unsolicited direct marketing calls and we will consider Ofcom’s findings to determine whether further action is necessary:
	http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/silent-calls/joint-action-plan
	Also, we will be publishing our action plan on nuisance calls early this year.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Armed Forces: Foreign Nationals

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will make it his policy that Commonwealth citizens serving in the armed forces should be treated as home students for the purpose of student finance; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: It is the policy of successive Governments that eligibility for student funding is based on ordinary residency within the UK and in some cases the EEA. This applies irrespective of nationality or country of origin. Commonwealth citizens leaving HM armed forces who become settled in the UK and who meet the residency requirement may qualify for student funding.

Basic Skills

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding his Department provided for delivery of basic skills training by (a) providers graded 1 or 2 by Ofsted and (b) other providers in each of the last three years.

Matthew Hancock: The funding for basic skills training from the Adult Skills Budget for the past three academic years is set out in the following table. The figures include spend on delivery of basic skills training (English and maths) by all providers and those with Ofsted Grade 1 and 2. Aside from funding for apprenticeships, allocations to providers are not ring-fenced for specific types of provision. This follows our approach of encouraging freedom and flexibility, where providers have discretion to use their allocation to best meet the needs of local learners and employers.
	
		
			 £ million 
			  Academic year 
			  2012/13 2011/12 2010/11 
			 Basic skills provision 346 318 304 
			 of which: Ofsted Grade 1 and 2 providers 246 225 212 
			 of which: All other providers 100 93 91 
			 Notes: 1. Basic skills is English and maths only (it does not include English for speakers of other languages) and includes English and maths training as part of an apprenticeship. 2. OFSTED grades are as at November 2013. 3. The data do not include basic skills training undertaken as part of the Employer Ownership Pilot. 4.The spend on basic skills is estimated based on data from the Individualised Learner Record (ILR).

British Business Bank

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he expects funds to be allocated to companies from the British Business Bank.

Matthew Hancock: British Business Bank schemes are already providing funding to businesses across the UK.

British Business Bank

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people in his Department work for the British Business Bank on a (a) full-time and (b) part-time basis.

Matthew Hancock: There are 63 full-time equivalent people employed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills working for the British Business Bank. There are currently no part-time workers.

British Business Bank

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what meetings (a) he, (b) other Ministers and (c) officials in his Department had with (i) business groups and (ii) individual companies on the British Business Bank between 1 June 2012 and 31 December 2013.

Matthew Hancock: Details of Ministers' meetings with external organisations up to 30 June 2013 are published quarterly on the gov.uk website which you can access using the following hyperlink. Information for July to December 2013 will be published in due course.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments% 5B%5D=department-for-business-innovation-skills& publication_type=transparency-data
	Information on any meetings between officials and business groups and individual companies on the British Business Bank is not held centrally.

Engineering Skills Review

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his response to the Perkins Review of Skills in Engineering is.

Matthew Hancock: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Worcestershire (Sir Peter Luff) on 8 November 2013, Official Report, column 396W.

Literacy

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how much his Department has spent on the provision of adult literacy services in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13;
	(2)  what steps his Department is taking to support adult literacy.

Matthew Hancock: It is the Government's priority to ensure that all adults in England have the basic literacy and numeracy skills they need to find and sustain employment and which can also contribute to other benefits, such as improved health and well-being.
	We aim to improve the current level of literacy of working age adults. Since August 2012, we have fully funded any adult to complete an English GCSE where they do not have one as well as continuing to support people to achieve other English and ESOL qualifications which help them progress to that level.
	Our reforms to further education (FE) will improve the quality of the teaching work force, reward the best providers and ensure learners are stretched to achieve the best they can.
	In August 2013, we introduced a bursary scheme which offers up to £9,000 to the brightest and best graduates to train as specialist teachers and teach English in FE.
	From spring 2014 we will be funding a pilot for a continuous professional development programme to enhance the skills of English teachers to teach to GCSE level and identify innovative and best approach. Also, the Centres of Excellence in Teacher Training will be identifying and disseminate best practice in teaching English to post-16 students.
	From 2015, new English GCSE qualifications will require a closer focus on essential skills like spelling and grammar.
	All intermediate apprentices will be required to work towards achieving a Level 2 in English from August 2014. All young people undertaking a traineeship will be required to study English unless they have already achieved a Level 2.
	In the December 2013 autumn statement we announced that we will pilot a requirement that young people aged 18-21 without a Level 2 qualification in English and maths undertake training to improve these vital skills from the very outset of a claim for jobseeker's allowance.
	In June 2013 we announced that, from April 2014, unemployed JSA claimants with very poor spoken English language skills will be required to train to bring their skills up to the level expected by employers. Claimants will be mandated by Jobcentres to English language training with a FE provider.
	The amount spent on the provision of adult literacy services (English basic skills training from the adult skills budget) for the past three academic years is set out in the following table.
	
		
			 AY £ million 
			 2010/11 153 
			 2011/12 164 
			 2012/13 178 
			 Notes: 1. Figures do not include English for Speakers of Other Languages and include English training as part of an apprenticeship. 2. The data do not include English training undertaken as part of the Employer Ownership pilot. 3. The spend is estimated based on data from the Individualised Learner Record (ILR).

Medicine: Students

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many medical students are currently studying at universities in England; and how many such students are UK citizens.

David Willetts: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students at UK higher education institutions (HEIs). Information on the nationality of higher education enrolments in medicine subjects at English HEIs for the academic year 2011/12 has been provided in the table.
	Information for the 2012/13 academic year will become available from HESA on 16 January 2014.
	
		
			 Full-person equivalent (FPE)1 enrolments2 studying medicine3 by nationality-English higher education institutions-academic year 2011/12 
			 Nationality Enrolments 
			 UK 42,225 
			 Non-UK 12,080 
			 Unknown 35 
			 Total 54,340 
			 1 Counts in the table refer to full-person equivalents (FPEs). FPEs are derived by splitting student instances between the different subjects that make up their course aim. 2 Enrolments refer to students in all years of study. 3 Subject information is defined using the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS2) Note: Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population and have been rounded up or down to the nearest five, so components may not sum to totals. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record.

Railways: Freight

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the potential contribution of increased rail freight capacity to (a) regional economic growth and (b) economic growth in West Yorkshire.

Michael Fallon: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has had no such discussions with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport.

Research: Finance

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the science and research budget for the next financial year.

David Willetts: The Department published allocations for the periods concerned in the booklet “The Allocation of Science and Research Funding 2011-12 to 2014-15” (20 December 2010):
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/allocation-of-science-and-research-funding-2011-12-to-2014-15
	This gives the total budget for 2014-15 as £4.57 billion.
	The Department has also announced additional allocations since the spending review through fiscal events totalling £609 million in 2014-15.

Royal Bank of Scotland

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will establish a public inquiry into allegations by small business owners that the Royal Bank of Scotland forced viable companies into default so the bank could seize their assets.

Matthew Hancock: Regulation of the banks is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
	The FCA announced on 29 October 2013 that an independent skilled person will be appointed under section 166 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to review allegations about Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) treatment of customers in financial difficulties. This followed the FCA's consideration of reports published by Sir Andrew Large into lending practices at the RBS and, separately, by Lawrence Tomlinson.

Space Technology

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the potential of synergetic air-breathing rocket engines for placing large-scale solar stations in geo-stationary orbit; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the potential of synergetic air-breathing rocket engines for improving the speed and efficiency of travel; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: This Government have announced we will invest £60 million in synergetic air-breathing rocket engines. This decision was based on a detailed economic assessment of the uses of their technology. The new space planes that these engines can power will, in principle, be capable of delivering components into orbit for assembly into a range of larger scale space structures, including those designed for solar energy applications. The engines in new space planes could provide a means of reusable space access, and also improve flight times across the globe.

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the Government's Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy, published in August 2013, Action Point 6, whether a finalised engagement plan has been produced with Norstec and COREs; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: Following initial development work on a separate engagement strategy it was decided that COREs would feed into the work already planned by Norstec focusing on events around Global Wind Day on 15 June 2014. Norstec will lead on development of an engagement strategy.

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the Government's Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy, published in August 2013, Action Point 4, how many share fair events for supply chain opportunities have been organised and delivered to date.

Michael Fallon: Since the inception of the Industrial Strategy for Offshore Wind, there have been two share fairs. The first took place on 13 June 2013 and the second on 5 November 2013, at the RenewableUK Conferences in Manchester and Birmingham respectively. We expect this to be an ongoing event to enable industry to publicise supply chain opportunities in the offshore wind sector.

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the Government's Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy, published in August 2013, Action Point 9, whether the Offshore Wind Investment Organisation to deliver inward investment into the UK has been established; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The Offshore Wind Investment Organisation has been established within UK Trade and Investment to increase significantly inward investment into the offshore wind supply chain. It is working with foreign owned companies to promote investment opportunities in areas of the supply chain where there is most potential for the creation of new jobs and the reduction of deployment costs.

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will publish the Government's plans to create orders for British firms in the offshore wind energy industry.

Michael Fallon: The Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy, published on 1 August 2013, sets out a joint industry and Government plan to build a competitive and innovative UK supply chain that delivers and sustains jobs, exports and economic benefits for the UK.
	Further to this strategy, on 4 December 2013, Government published the final Contract for Difference (CfD) strike prices and contract terms under the Electricity Market Reform (EMR). The full EMR Delivery Plan was published on 19 December 2013. This commitment represents an important step in giving more confidence to the offshore wind industry to invest in Britain and create jobs.

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to Action Point 16 of the Government's Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy, published in August 2013, when he expects to publish the Low Carbon Innovation Strategy; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
	We expect this document to be published in February 2014.

TREASURY

Child Benefit: Barrow in Furness

John Woodcock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many households in Barrow and Furness constituency opted out of receiving child benefit prior to 6 January 2013; how many such households have subsequently opted out; and how many have been subject to the high-income child benefit charge.

David Gauke: The self-assessment deadline for the year 2012-13 is 31 January 2014. When this deadline has passed, and all declarations have been fully processed, we will know the total number of people affected by the High Income Child Benefit Charge.
	Details on the number of claimants who have chosen to “opt-out” of child benefit payment will be available in the next Child Benefit National Statistics publication. This is due to be published on 28 February 2014 and will be available here:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/child-benefit.htm
	Details on the timings of when claimants chose to stop their payments are not available.

Corporation Tax

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make an assessment of the public's perception of the influence of Ernst & Young on the reform of corporation tax legislation; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: The Government are committed to better tax policy making and recognises the importance when developing policy of consulting with all interested parties, as set out in the Corporate Tax Road Map. The Government take all views into consideration, but ultimately decisions on tax are for Ministers. We do not therefore feel that it is appropriate or necessary to conduct an assessment of the public’s perception of specific companies’ influence on corporation tax legislation.

Financial Stability Board

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Government contribute to the Global Financial Stability Board in (a) staff and (b) money terms.

Sajid Javid: The Financial Stability Board, is a separate legal entity which is currently hosted and funded by the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland. The UK Government do not make any contributions of money or personnel towards the Board secretariat.
	The Government and UK independent regulators are represented at the Board by the relevant officials. It is currently chaired by the Governor of the Bank of England.
	The Financial Stability Board may decide to raise subscriptions from members in the future to cover its costs. It is for that reason that the Government amended the Financial Services and Markets Act (2000) to give the Treasury the power to direct the regulators to collect fees from the financial services industry to cover the costs of the Treasury's membership of the Financial Stability Board.

Financial Stability Board

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is towards the Global Financial Stability Board; and which policy objectives he is pursuing through membership of the Board.

Sajid Javid: My policy, and that of all involved UK authorities, is to actively engage with the Financial Stability Board to support its work in establishing and promoting the implementation of effective regulatory, supervisory, and other financial sector policies.
	The key objective in working with the Financial Stability Board lies in the creation of a stable and resilient global financial system that is best suited to providing support to the real economy.

Financial Stability Board

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the recent work of the Global Financial Stability Board; and if he will make a statement.

Sajid Javid: The UK is very supportive of the Financial Stability Board, its work to improve the stability of the financial system and its role in coordinating national financial authorities and international standard setting bodies. We will continue to engage proactively with the Financial Stability Board as the agenda is taken forwards.

Income Tax: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the cost to the UK of implementation of the Scottish rate of income tax.

Danny Alexander: holding answer 9 January 2014
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury on 13 June 2013, Official Report, column 390W. The UK Government's second annual report on the implementation of the fiscal aspects of the Scotland Act 2012, to be published before 1 May 2014, will include any revisions to the estimated costs for implementing the Scottish rate of income tax.

Members: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the hon. Member for Walsall North will receive a reply to his letter of 11 November 2013, sent to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and subsequently transferred to the Treasury, reference 7/29806/2013; and what the reasons are for the time taken to provide a response.

Sajid Javid: holding answer 6 January 2014
	I have replied to the hon. Member.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he intends to reply to the letter to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury dated 3 December 2013 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr David Feltham.

Sajid Javid: I have replied to the right hon. Member.

Members: Correspondence

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton dated 1 November 2013.

David Gauke: I have replied to the hon. Member.

Payment Systems Regulator

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what range of financial penalties for compliance failure the new Payment Systems Regulator will be able to impose when it becomes fully operational in 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Sajid Javid: The Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 provides that the Payment Systems Regulator, once established, will be required to publish and apply a statement of principles regarding the imposition and amount of penalties. The Payment Systems Regulator will have to justify any financial penalty it imposes on a participant in a regulated payment system. The level of any penalty will be subject to a full merits appeal to the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

Revenue and Customs: Newry

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date HM Revenue and Customs' offices in Newry will be closed.

David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has not taken the decision to close the offices in Newry.
	HMRC has given very early information to people in 21 offices across the UK, including Newry, that some or all of the work done in their offices does not fit the long-term plans for the Department and they have been invited to consider voluntary exit given this. Acceptance is entirely voluntary. HMRC will honour its commitment to keep the Newry office open until at least 2015.
	Staff in any adjoining or nearby inquiry centres have also been invited to consider voluntary exit because of the potential impact on them in future too. This does not pre-empt HMRC's decision around the future of inquiry centres and the outcome of the Needs Enhanced Support pilot in January 2014.

Shareholders

John Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of shares by value owned by individuals.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2014
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking what estimate has been made of the proportion of shares by value owned by individuals (181501).
	The results of the most recent ONS share ownership survey were published in “Ownership of UK Quoted Shares, 2012”, which is available on the ONS website. The latest year for which data are available on the proportion of shares by value owned by individuals is 2012.
	The figures for the period 1963-2012 are shown in the table. These are taken from Table A of the above publication, which also provides the proportion for all other beneficial ownership categories.
	The individual beneficial ownership category includes holdings owned by individual persons resident in the UK (whether registered in their own name, through a PEP/ISA, or as clients of a stockbroker or fund management group); shares held for employee share ownership schemes; and shares held in trusts with named individual beneficiaries.
	
		
			  Percentage of the value of the UK stock market owned by individuals 
			 1963 54.0 
			 1969 47.4 
			 1975 37.5 
			 1981 28.2 
			 1989 20.6 
			 1990 20.3 
			 1991 19.9 
			 1992 20.4 
			 1993 17.7 
			 1994 20.3 
			 1997 16.5 
			 1998 16.7 
			 1999 15.3 
			 2000 16.0 
			 2001 14.8 
			 2002 14.3 
			 2003 14.9 
			 2004 14.1 
			 2006 12.8 
			 2008 10.2 
			 2010 10.2 
			 2012 10.7 
			 Note: Share ownership data are not available for all years. Source: ONS Ownership of UK Quoted Shares, 2012.

Tax Avoidance: Beer

John Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the amount of revenue lost to the Exchequer through the avoidance of VAT and excise duty on beer in the last year for which figures are available.

David Gauke: Estimates of total revenue losses associated with the beer illicit market for the UK are published in ‘Measuring Tax Gaps’. These estimates cannot be disaggregated.
	The Government announced at autumn statement that we would introduce a registration scheme for alcohol wholesalers which will be fully implemented by 2018. This will help to reduce alcohol fraud though better regulation of the wholesale sector which is the point at which illicit products are normally distributed.
	The Beer Tax Gap published in 2013 can be found at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/tax-gaps/mtg-2013.pdf
	The associated tables are found here:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/tax-gaps/mtg-table2013.xls

Taxation: Environment Protection

Dan Byles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of what the effects of the carbon price floor would be on consumer electricity bills in each of the first five years of its operation if all other factors affecting the price were unchanged;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of what the effects would be of the carbon price floor on average wholesale electricity prices in each of the first five years of its operation if all other factors affecting the price remained unchanged.

Nicky Morgan: The Government’s latest assessment of the impact of climate change and energy policies on consumer energy prices and bills was in March 20131. This sets out impacts for 2013, showing that the carbon price floor was estimated to add around £1 per megawatt hour (MWh) or 2% to wholesale electricity prices in 2013 (2012 prices, not including VAT) around £5 (2012 prices, not including VAT), or less than 1%, to the average household energy (gas and electricity) bill in 2013. The Government have not estimated what the impact would be in subsequent years if all other factors affecting the electricity price remained unchanged.
	l https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estimated-impacts- of-energy-and-climate-change-policies-on-energy-prices-and-bills

Taxation: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what criteria are used to assess proposals to create new devolved taxes under the Scotland Act 2012; and whether any such proposals have been made.

Danny Alexander: holding answer 9 January 2014
	A description of the process to create new devolved taxes in Scotland is set out in chapter 6 of the first following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/192494/First_Annual_Report_on_ he_Implementation_and_Operation_of_Part_3_of_the _Scotland_Act_2012.pdf
	To date no proposals to create new devolved taxes have been made.

TRANSPORT

Biofuels

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much palm oil was imported for bio-fuels in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Robert Goodwill: The latest near complete dataset available Biofuel statistics: Year 5 (2012 to 2013), report 5 suggests that in 2012-13 approximately 1.407 million litres of biodiesel derived from palm oil was reported by suppliers. As a proportion of overall supply of biofuels this represents 0.1%. The data indicate that all biodiesel derived from palm oil was imported.
	A full year's data for biofuels feedstocks for 2013-14 are not yet available. Biofuel statistics: Year 6 (2013 to 2014), report 1 records that no biodiesel derived from palm oil was reported in the first quarter, although this is report one of six and therefore contains an incomplete dataset.
	Statistics covering the volume of biofuel supplied by feedstock and country of origin under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation are available at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/statistics/series/biofuels/

Bus Services: Visual Impairment

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000 to oblige bus operators to provide audio guidance on alighting points for passengers using their services, with particular reference to the needs of blind people and the visually impaired.

Stephen Hammond: I recognise that many people find audio and visual announcements useful and understand the social benefits of having such systems on buses.
	However, we have no plans to make these systems mandatory through amendments to existing legislation as the business case for operators cannot be demonstrated and the Government are unwilling to force financial burdens of this kind on the industry in the current financial climate.
	We will continue to work with bus industry stakeholders to identify the best solutions to improve access to the public transport system for all passengers.

Buses: Testing

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of MOT test requirements for buses when those vehicles are used entirely for the purpose of transporting mountain bikers up and down mountains and hills; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: The Department has not carried out a roadworthiness review in relation to buses transporting mountain bikes as this type of operation would not fall within scope of vehicle roadworthiness testing. Buses used on public roads are expected to have a valid roadworthiness test certificate.

Buses: Tyres

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department is conducting or has commissioned research on the issue of the age of tyres on buses and coaches.

Stephen Hammond: The Department has not undertaken research into the effect of age on the performance of tyres fitted to buses and coaches. The Department undertook a sample survey of the age of tyres currently fitted to older buses and coaches during the autumn of 2013. Officials are currently reviewing available evidence from the international community to inform the possible commissioning of future research on this subject.

Commuters

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of people in the UK who commute to work by (a) public and (b) private means of transport.

Stephen Hammond: Estimates of the usual method of travel to work for residents of Great Britain from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) are published in table TSGB0108, downloadable from:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/259264/tsgb0108.xls
	Of the estimated 29 million people in employment in 2012, the LFS estimates that 5 million (17%) travelled to work by public transport and 24 million (83%) by private transport modes (which includes cycling and walking).
	Estimates from the National Travel Survey on the number of commuting trips by mode of transport also show the same proportional split between public and private modes. These are published in table NTS0409, downloadable from:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/35612/nts0409.xls

Commuters

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the average (a) distance and (b) length of time it takes people in the UK to commute to work.

Stephen Hammond: Estimates of the average distance and length of time of a commuting trip for residents of Great Britain are available from the National Travel Survey in published tables NTS0405 and NTS0406, downloadable from:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/nts04-purpose-of-trips
	In 2012, the average length of a commuting trip was nine miles and took 28 minutes.

Crossrail Line

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport to which of CAF, Hitachi Rail Europe Ltd, Siemans plc or Bombardier Transportation (UK) Ltd he plans to award preferred bidder status for the forthcoming Crossrail rolling stock contract.

Stephen Hammond: The Crossrail rolling stock and depot contract is being procured by Crossrail Ltd, and they are currently evaluating bids from Bombardier Transportation (UK) Ltd, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles SA (CAF) and Hitachi Rail Europe Ltd; Siemens plc withdrew from the competition in July 2013. Crossrail Ltd is procuring this contract on behalf of Transport for London.
	I will make a statement to the House regarding the identity of the winning bidder upon completion of the procurement process by the spring of this year.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many meetings the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has had with (a) Amazon, (b) the Royal Mail and (c) Amazon and the Royal Mail in the last two years; and what local labour market information for Swansea and Neath Port Talbot was discussed or shared at those meetings.

Stephen Hammond: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has not held any meetings with Amazon.
	The DVLA holds monthly contract service review meetings with Royal Mail. The local labour market is not part of the agenda at these meetings and has not been discussed.

Driving: Licensing

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has ever exercised discretion in revoking the licence held by a new driver who has accumulated six penalty points since the introduction of the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995.

Stephen Hammond: When the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) receives a notification of endorsement from a court or fixed penalty office of a driver who meets the criteria of the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995, a letter is produced by the DVLA informing the driver that his/her driving licence will be automatically revoked five days from the date of the letter. There is no discretion or right of appeal.

Driving: Licensing

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of new drivers that did not have their licence revoked under the provisions of the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995 following the accumulation of six penalty points in each year since that Act's introduction; and under what circumstances each such non-revocation took place.

Stephen Hammond: All drivers who accumulate six or more penalty points within their two year probationary period have their driving licence automatically revoked by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) when the DVLA is notified by a court or fixed penalty office of such a driver.

Driving: Licensing

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport at what point a new driver who has accumulated six penalty points has his or her licence revoked.

Stephen Hammond: When the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) receives a notification from a court or fixed penalty office of a driver who has accumulated six penalty points in the first two years of becoming a qualified driver and so meets the criteria of the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995, a letter is produced by the DVLA informing the driver that his/her driving licence will be automatically revoked five days from the date of that letter.

Helicopters

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will examine in conjunction with the Civil Aviation Authority the adequacy of the existing parameters of regulation for helicopter safety.

Robert Goodwill: The safety of UK civil aviation is among the best in the world. Each year UK aircraft make approximately 1.15 million flights. Civil helicopter operations are subject to strict oversight and regulation to ensure the highest possible levels of safety.
	The Civil Aviation Authority is currently undertaking a review of commercial civil offshore helicopter operations and there may be elements of that work that influence overall civil helicopter operations. As part of that review, the CAA will consider if there are lessons to be learned for the safety of civil helicopter operations more broadly.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the full addresses of the 339 dwellings and 21 community facilities that will be demolished if High Speed 2 proceeds as the Government currently plan.

Robert Goodwill: The addresses of the 339 dwellings and 21 community facilities which will be demolished are set out in Section 2 of the Environmental Statement Volume 2 Community Forum Area (CFA) reports. The CFA reports and map books are published online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hs2-phase-one-environmental-statement-volume-2-community-forum-area-reports-and-map-books/hs2-phase-one-environmental-statement-volume-2-community-forum-area-reports-and-map-books
	Printed copies of all hybrid Bill and Environmental Statement documents have been deposited at the Libraries of the House of Commons and House of Lords.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when his Department will re-commence the work on a direct Heathrow Airport link to High Speed 2, which was suspended in January 2013.

Robert Goodwill: The Government support a direct high speed connection to Heathrow. We consider however that further work on a link to Heathrow should await the final conclusions and recommendation of the Airports Commission. We have therefore paused work on the link until the Commission's work has been concluded. The recent publication of the Commission's Interim Report does not change this.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the addresses of the 67 dwellings that will be significantly affected by noise from High Speed 2 as stated in the Environmental Statement on High Speed 2.

Robert Goodwill: The addresses are already published in the Environmental Statement for HS2 Phase One. Section 11 of each of the Volume 2 Community Forum Area (CFA) reports contains details of the assessment of impacts and effects on individual dwellings, including address information. The properties are also detailed on the Operational Noise and Vibration Impacts and Likely Significant Effects maps in the CFA map books.
	The CFA reports and map books are published online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hs2-phase-one-environmental-statement-volume-2-community-forum-area-reports-and-map-books/hs2-phase-one-environmental-statement-volume-2-community-forum-area-reports-and-map-books

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the 300 existing businesses that will be required to relocate together with their full addresses and the number of employees of each company as stated in the Environmental Statement on High Speed 2.

Robert Goodwill: The number of businesses within each Community Forum Area (CFA) which would be directly impacted by the Proposed Scheme (ie those that lie within land which would be acquired for the construction of the Proposed Scheme) are set out in Section 10 of the Environmental Statement Volume 2, CFA Reports. The businesses are grouped into similar types and these are listed in Section 10.4 of each of the reports. The number of employees within businesses has been estimated through a combination of sources, for example surveys of businesses, employment datasets, employment floor space and standard employment density ratios and therefore may vary from actual employment at the sites. The names of businesses and the streets on which they are located are also included.
	The CFA reports are published online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hs2-phase-one-environmental-statement-volume-2-community-forum-area-reports-and-map-books/hs2-phase-one-environmental-statement-volume-2-community-forum-area-reports-and-map-books

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what additional support will be available to those businesses that will be forced to relocate as set out in the Environmental Statement on High Speed 2.

Robert Goodwill: Businesses displaced by the scheme will be compensated within the provisions of the relevant compulsory purchase legislation—generally known as the Compensation Code. This recognises the importance to businesses displaced from their existing premises (by compulsory purchase of those premises for public works) of being able to relocate to another site. The Compensation Code normally provides for the cost of such relocation to be taken into account under the heading of disturbance compensation.
	The Secretary of State recognises the importance for existing businesses of being able to plan their relocations with as much advance information as is reasonably practicable, to ensure a smooth transition of their operations from one location to another. An information paper will shortly be released with additional information on support provided to businesses which have to relocate.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the 1,510 jobs together with the organisations that provides them that HS2 Ltd states are at risk as set out in 7.10 of the non-technical summary of the Environmental Statement on High Speed 2.

Robert Goodwill: HS2 Ltd has drawn on research undertaken by the London Development Agency into the relocation of companies and jobs in relation to the London 2012 Olympic Games and has made an assumption about the number of businesses that will not continue operations when their premises are required for the HS2 Scheme. The assessment is based on a proportion of businesses impacted and no assessment has been made of the likelihood of any individual business deciding whether to extinguish its operation or relocate.
	It is therefore not possible to provide a list of jobs or businesses that may be at risk of not continuing. The approach used is set out in further detail in paragraphs 11.6.10 to 11.6.17 in Volume 3 of the Environmental Statement.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give the full addresses of (a) the six Grade II listed buildings that will be demolished, (b) the four Grade II listed buildings that will be altered and (c) the eight Grade II listed buildings that will be removed and relocated together with (i) the estimated dates of such demolition, commencement of alterations and removal and (ii) the full addresses of the relocation sites under plans for High Speed 2.

Robert Goodwill: The addresses of all the Grade II listed buildings to be affected are set out in Table 1, Schedule 17 ‘Listed Buildings’ of the High Speed Rail (London-West Midlands) Bill.
	The estimated dates for construction works have been published in Volume 2, Section 2 of the Environmental Statement for each Community Forum Area (CFA). These dates will be subject to further detailed refinement.
	The relocations comprise:
	The monument to the Christie family, the obelisk to Baron Southampton and the drinking fountain in St James Gardens at Euston;
	the Robert Stephenson statue at Euston Station; and
	the railings around Euston Square and war memorial.
	All of these historic items will be incorporated into the urban realm at Euston.
	There are also two pairs of stone piers with lampstands at either end of Mornington street railway bridge; these will be reinstated when the bridge is rebuilt.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what (a) individuals and (b) organisations have contacted HS2 Ltd or his Department to ask for an extension to the consultation period on the environmental statement on High Speed 2.

Robert Goodwill: Since the launch of the consultation on the HS2 environmental statement on 25 November 2013, the Department for Transport has received correspondence on the length of the consultation period from the individuals and organisations specified in the following table. It is important to note that in some cases the Members of Parliament listed below have forwarded on the views of their constituents. Where no organisation is specified, the entry refers to someone that the Department believes made contact in an individual capacity. It is possible that the consultation length may have been raised in other correspondence alongside other issues in a few cases, and these may not have been captured in this table given the time available.
	
		
			 Name Organisation 
			 Steve Rodrick Chilterns Conservation Board 
			 Paul Lankester Stratford district council 
			 David Lidington MP Member of Parliament 
			 Andrea Leadsom MP Member of Parliament 
			 Cllr Izzi Seccombe Leader of Warwickshire county council 
			 John Gladwin FCA Chiltern Society 
			 John Bercow MP Member of Parliament 
			 Cheryl Gillan MP Member of Parliament 
			 Chris Eaglen n/a 
			 Ken Clarke n/a 
			 Rae Sloan n/a 
			 Mr Neave n/a

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish his plans for maintaining full access to the Broadwater Sailing Club during the construction phase of High Speed 2.

Robert Goodwill: HS2 Ltd will be working with the Sailing Club regarding access arrangements and they will contact the Sailing Club to discuss these options as the construction details are finalised during the Bill process.

Invalid Vehicles: Car Tax

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to his plans to remove the requirement for vehicles to display a paper tax disc, how he plans that the payment of vehicle excise duty will be monitored for those mobility scooters which are subject to it.

Stephen Hammond: Although some mobility scooters must be registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and display a ‘nil duty’ tax disc, they are exempt from the payment of vehicle excise duty. When the tax disc is abolished, there will be no requirement for these nil duty discs to be displayed on mobility scooters. As these vehicles are exempt from vehicle excise duty, no monitoring will be required.

M6

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average number of daily vehicle movements on the M6 motorway between junctions 4 and 12 was in each year since 2004.

Robert Goodwill: The range of daily traffic flows on the M6 motorway between junctions 4 and 12 in each year since 2004 are as follows:
	2004: between 81,000 and 147,000
	2005: between 81,000 and 152,000
	2006: between 78,000 and 150,000
	2007: between 81,000 and 153,000
	2008: between 85,000 and 158,000
	2009: between 86,000 and 157,000
	2010: between 80,000 and 151,000
	2011: between 84,000 and 158,000
	2012: between 74,000 and 159,000
	2013: between 70,000 and 159,000 (estimated, based on January to October).
	The range demonstrates the lowest and highest annual average daily traffic flow as measured on defined sections of the motorway between these two junctions.

M6

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average number of daily vehicle movements on the M6 toll road was in each year since 2004.

Robert Goodwill: Average daily traffic flows on the M6 toll in each year since 2004 are as follows:
	2004: 45,723
	2005: 44,773
	2006: 47,679
	2007: 45,898
	2008: 40,508
	2009: 38,519
	2010: 39,760
	2011: 35,711
	2012: 35,000
	2013: 38,642 (estimated, based on January to August).

M6

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate his Department has made of the cost of taking the M6 Toll Road into public ownership.

Robert Goodwill: The Department has not made an estimate of the cost of taking the M6 Toll road into public ownership.

M6

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for how many hours the M6 motorway was closed in either direction in Cumbria and Lancashire due to accidents in each of the last five years.

Robert Goodwill: Over the last five years (1 January 2009 to 31 December 2013 inc), on the M6 in the Cumbria and Lancashire areas, 90 road traffic collisions have been recorded that resulted in a total closure (all lanes both carriageways) or whole closure (all lanes one carriageway) with a total of 344 hours and 10 minutes impact duration being recorded.
	Please note this is the total impact duration, that being the time where the capacity, of one or more running lanes, has been reduced and not just the time that all lanes were closed.
	The information above is broken down on a year-by-year basis as follows:
	2009: 18 road traffic collisions, total impact duration 44 hours 50 minutes;
	2010: 14 road traffic collisions, total impact duration 24 hours 9 minutes;
	2011: 17 road traffic collisions, total impact duration 69 hours 27 minutes;
	2012: 16 road traffic collisions, total impact duration 72 hours 8 minutes; and
	2013: 25 road traffic collisions, total impact duration 133 hours 36 minutes.

Motor Vehicles

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department is taking to record all non-UK registered vehicles in the UK.

Stephen Hammond: Foreign registered vehicles brought temporarily into the UK do not need to be registered with the DVLA and are exempt from UK tax and registration for up to six months in any 12 month period. This six month exemption is a provision within EU legislation, which also grants UK registered vehicles the same privilege while abroad.
	Once the six month exemption period has passed, vehicles must be taxed and registered under UK law. Vehicles that remain after the exemption period has expired may be subject to enforcement action.
	The DVLA is working with the UK Border Force and the police to explore how data can be used by the police to identify foreign registered vehicles that have been in the UK for longer than six months. Once this exploratory work has been completed a plan of action will be developed for implementing the proposed solution.

Motor Vehicles

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations his Department has made to its European counterparts on preventing the use in this country of non-UK registered vehicles in the last year.

Stephen Hammond: Foreign registered vehicles brought temporarily into the UK are exempt from UK licensing and registration for up to six months in any 12 month period. This exemption is provided for in EU law and also applies to UK vehicles while abroad. Once the exemption period has passed, foreign registered vehicles must be licensed and registered according to UK law. Vehicles that remain after the exemption period has expired may be subject to enforcement action. This can include wheel-clamping, removal and disposal of the vehicle.
	The Department has not made any representations to its European counterparts on preventing the use of non-UK registered vehicles in this country in the last year.

Railways: Bolton

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many investigations the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency has undertaken in each year since 2010 into passenger train journeys serving Bolton following alleged infringements of the Public Service Vehicles (Carrying Capacity) Regulations 1984.

Stephen Hammond: The investigation of train journeys is not within VOSA's remit.

Railways: Fares

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the decision to limit rail fares to RPI+0 in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015; and if he will provide a breakdown of that cost.

Stephen Hammond: In the Chancellor’s autumn statement the average regulated fare rise was reduced to RPI plus 0% for 2014. This reduction will require Government to adjust levels of franchise compensation, and the amount to be paid will be determined through negotiations with train operators.

Railways: Fares

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the decision to limit the amount train operating companies are able to vary rail fares to 2% in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015; and if he will provide a breakdown of that cost.

Stephen Hammond: The decision to reduce the amount train operators can vary rail fares to 2% was one of a number of measures announced in the Government’s Fares and Ticketing Review that will benefit rail passengers. This measure will require Government to adjust levels of franchise compensation, and the amount to be paid will be determined through negotiations with train operators.

Railways: Finance

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the total amount of (a) publicly funded and (b) private investment in the railways since 2010.

Stephen Hammond: Details of publicly funded investment in Britain's Railways between 2010-11 and 2012-13 as reported by Network Rail can be found on Network Rail's website at the following link:
	https://www.networkrail.co.uk/publications/Annual-return/
	The link includes funding provided for support of the railway infrastructure for England, Wales and Scotland by both the Department for Transport and Transport Scotland This information includes all enhancements to the railways and associated infrastructure for Great Britain, excluding Transport for London and Crossrail expenditure.
	Details of Crossrail spend can be found on the ORR's website. Crossrail spend is listed as part of the ‘Other Government Support' column:
	http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/htmi/8752da4c-fe20-4c1c-8a3d-5afd402f3f1d
	Other information is available as part of the Department for Transport's Annual Report and Accounts 2012-13:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/209980/annual-report-and-accounts-2012-2013.pdf
	Details of private investment in Great Britain's railways are available on ORR's website at the following link:
	http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/5cc4eb14-fe68-4b72-aebf-81625df90d86

Railways: Franchises

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which existing rail franchise contracts (a) have been or (b) he plans will be renewed by direct award to the incumbent operator; and what stage negotiations with the incumbent operators have reached in each such case. [Official Report, 17 January 2014, Vol. 573, c. 15MC.]

Stephen Hammond: As per the franchising timetable announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport on 26 March 2013, a number of new franchise contracts need to be negotiated via Direct Award. These are new franchises, not extensions of existing contracts.
	Direct Awards have already been negotiated with Essex Thameside (c2c) and First Great Western. The contracts began in May 2013 and October 2013 and will run until September 2014 and July 2016 respectively.
	The Department has recently received the proposal for Greater Anglia, the Direct Award for which will commence July 2014 and run until October 2016. We are in negotiation with Northern and First Capital Connect whose Direct Awards will run from April 2014 to February 2016 and April 2014 to September 2014 respectively.
	The Department is preparing the Requests for Proposal for TransPennine (April 2015—February 2016); Intercity West Coast (November 2014—November 2017); South Eastern (October 2014—June 2018) and South West Trains (February 2017—April 2019). We are in initial discussions with London Midland (September 2015—June 2017); East Midlands Trains (April 2015—October 2017) and Cross Country (October 2016—October 2019).

Railways: Franchises

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefits to rail passengers of management contracts with operators.

Stephen Hammond: The Government agree with the Brown Review that there may be a case for management contracts where a franchisee is facing major and sustained disruption because of infrastructure works, and where revenue growth will be less important than maintaining services through the disruption, such as in the recently tendered TSGN franchise.

Rescue Services

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on how many occasions both the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre, Belfast, and the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre, Stornoway, were simultaneously staffed at below risk-assessed levels between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2013.

Stephen Hammond: I have asked officials at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to compile the data for the period asked. The process to compile the data involves reconciliation from multiple sources. I will write with the information requested once this has been collated and a copy will be placed in Libraries of the House.

Rescue Services

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and what proportion of shifts at maritime rescue co-ordination centres were staffed at below risk-assessed levels in 2013.

Stephen Hammond: In 2013 2,560 out of 11,680 shifts were staffed at below risk-assessed levels across Her Majesty's Coastguard Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centres (MRCC). This equates to 21.9% of all shifts.
	Where there are specific issues at a MRCC Her Majesty's Coastguard is using the current long-established pairing arrangements between MRCCs. This enables each MRCC to be connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.

Rescue Services: Belfast

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many times the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre, Belfast was staffed at below risk-assessed levels in December 2013.

Stephen Hammond: During December 2013 Belfast Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) was staffed below risk-assessed levels on 11 occasions out of 62 shifts.
	Where there are specific issues at a MRCC Her Majesty's Coastguard is using the current long-established pairing arrangements between MRCCs. This enables each MRCC to be connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.

Rescue Services: Liverpool

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many times the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre, Liverpool was staffed at below risk-assessed levels in December 2013.

Stephen Hammond: During December 2013 Liverpool Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) was staffed below risk-assessed levels on 15 occasions out of 62 shifts.
	Where there are specific issues at a MRCC Her Majesty's Coastguard is using the current long established pairing arrangements between MRCCs. This enables each MRCC to be connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.

Rescue Services: Stornoway

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many times the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre, Stornoway was staffed at below risk-assessed levels in December 2013.

Stephen Hammond: During December 2013 Stornoway Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) was staffed below risk-assessed levels on 13 occasions out of 62 shifts.
	Where there are specific issues at a MRCC Her Majesty's Coastguard is using the current long-established pairing arrangements between MRCCs. This enables each MRCC to be connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.

Rolling Stock: North West

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2013, Official Report, column 631W, on rolling stock: North West, what volume of passengers on the Bolton corridor peak time journeys is sufficient to trigger the contingency plans drawn up by his Department and Northern Rail.

Stephen Hammond: Northern and TransPennine Express monitor passenger numbers and crowding levels and update the Department regularly.
	The contingency plan was developed and proposed by Northern.
	It is for Northern to implement as and when they deem it necessary—this is for the operator to decide as they are best placed to make the decision based on their local knowledge and making use of their existing fleet.

Virgin Trains

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what fees have been paid by the Government to Virgin West Coast since the introduction of the management contract in December 2012.

Stephen Hammond: Virgin West Coast retains 1% of revenue as per the contracted terms. This is the “fee” as agreed in the management contract.
	For the relevant 16 week period ending 31 March 2013 within the financial year 2012-13 (ending 31 March 2013), Virgin West Coast Trains’ “fee” for the provision of the Franchise Services totalled £2,860,000.
	In the same period, the Government received £24,313,000 as a premium payment from Virgin West Coast.
	Cleared, audited accounts are not yet available for the tax year 2013-14.

JUSTICE

Courts: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cases referred by either the police or the Crown Prosecution Service to either Crown court or a magistrates court in London were adjourned (a) once, (b) twice, (c) three times and (d) four or more times in each of the last two years; and if he will make a statement.

Shailesh Vara: Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service can identify the number of cases before magistrates courts or the Crown court in London, and the total number of hearings each case had before it concluded and from that how many times the case was adjourned from its first hearing to its final hearing. There are a number of different types of hearings from preliminary hearings, bail applications, trials and sentence hearings and different cases require different numbers of hearings. These data are management information and not subject to the same level of checks as Official Statistics. We are not able to separately identify CPS and police prosecutions in the Crown court so all trial cases are included. We have presented data for 2011 and 2012.
	Table 1 shows data for defendants in magistrates courts in London and Table 2 shows data for trial cases in the Crown court in London. The proportion of defendants whose case is dealt with in one hearing at London magistrates courts increased from 52.6% in 2011 to 54.0% in 2012. Judicially led initiatives in the Crown court, such as the early guilty plea scheme, and in the magistrates courts, such as stop delaying justice, have started to have an impact on the in court culture with challenge on the need to enter a guilty plea early in the process.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of adjournments1 of defendants' cases at magistrates courts in London prosecuted by the police or Crown Prosecution Service, 2011 and 20122,3,4,5 
			  Number of defendants 
			 Adjournments1 2011 2012 
			 0 95,662 90,689 
			 1 42,088 38,986 
			 2 20,610 18,175 
			 3 10,307 9,018 
			 4 or more 13,044 11,080 
			 Total defendants 181,711 167,948 
			 1 Adjournments show the total number of hearings after the first hearing in the magistrates court and may include bail applications, mentions, preliminary hearings, trials or sentencing hearings depending on the nature of the case. 2 Includes all cases completed in the magistrates courts. 3 Excludes breaches and cases with an offence to completion time greater than 10 years. 4 Only one offence is counted for each defendant in the case. If two or more cases complete on the same day, only the case with the longest duration is included. 5 Latest information available is to June 2013. Source: Criminal Court Statistics, Justice Statistics Analytical Services 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of adjournments1 of trial cases at the Crown court in London, all prosecutors, 2011 and 20122,3 
			  Number of trial cases 
			 Adjournments1 2011 2012 
			 0 2,183 1,694 
			 1 4,627 3,748 
			 2 4,025 3,478 
			 3 2,938 2,794 
			 4 or more 6,284 6,736 
		
	
	
		
			 Total cases 20,057 18,450 
			 1 Adjournments show the total number of hearings after the first hearing in the Crown court and may include bail applications, mentions, preliminary hearings, trials or sentencing hearings depending on the nature of the case. 2 Includes all trial cases completed in the Crown court in London. Committals for sentence and appeals against magistrates’ decisions are not included. 3 Latest information available is to June 2013. Source: HMCTS CREST case management system.

Electronic Tagging

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much he plans to spend on services relating to the electronic monitoring of offenders in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16.

Jeremy Wright: My Department is not in a position to provide meaningful expenditure forecasts until negotiations under the current competition for electronic monitoring services have concluded.

Electronic Tagging

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had with police and crime commissioners about the timing of the roll-out of GPS tagging technology; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: My Department is treating police and crime commissioners as important stakeholders in the use of electronic monitoring technology. My Department intends to bring them into the stakeholder group for the new contracts in the coming weeks. We hope to engage with police forces that are keen to innovate in this area as possible early adopters of the new arrangements.

Legal Aid Scheme

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to exempt all children from the proposed residence test for civil legal aid.

Shailesh Vara: The Government believe that individuals, including children, should in principle have a strong connection to the UK in order to benefit from civil legal aid. Therefore as set out in the Government response, ‘Transforming Legal Aid: Next Steps’, we intend to proceed with our proposal that applicants for civil legal aid will need to be lawfully resident in the UK, Crown Dependencies or British Overseas Territories at the time they apply and have resided there lawfully for at least 12 months in the past.
	In addition to exceptions for serving members of Her Majesty's UK Armed Forces and their immediate families, and for asylum seekers, we set out a number of modifications to the test in Next Steps. For any case, children under 12 months old would not be required to have 12 months of previous continuous residence. The test would also not apply in certain types of case which broadly relate to an individual's liberty, where the individual is particularly vulnerable or where the case relates to the protection of children.
	We believe the exceptions we have made strike the right balance between delivering a legal aid system that is fair to taxpayers and helps command public confidence, while still ensuring legal aid remains available for cases which justify it.

Legal Profession: Bank Services

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make an assessment of the Caisse Des Règlements Pécuniaires de Avocates (CARPA) system in operation in France and its potential applicability to the UK.

Shailesh Vara: In its consultation exercise ‘Proposals for the Reform of Legal Aid in England and Wales’
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20111121205348/http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/consultations/legal-aid-reform-consultation.pdf
	the Government examined options for alternative sources of legal aid funding, including consideration of the CARPA schemes in France. In our subsequent consultation response, ‘Reform of Legal Aid in England and Wales: the Government Response’
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20111121205348/http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/consultations/legal-aid-reform-government-response.pdf
	the Government concluded that neither the CARPA model nor the related Interest on Lawyers' Trust Account schemes, operating in the United States of America and Australia, should be pursued at that time. The Government currently have no plans to revisit the viability of CARPA schemes for England and Wales.

Magistrates Courts

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse (a) per hour, (b) per case and (c) per year of deploying (i) a district judge and (ii) a bench of three magistrates to reside over cases in magistrates courts; and what the component elements are of that estimate in each case.

Shailesh Vara: The average estimated costs for the financial year 2012-13 are given in the table.
	
		
			 Cost category financial year 2012-13 
			 £ 
			   (a) per hour (c) per year 
			 (i) District judge magistrates court 92 171,673 
			 (ii) A bench of three magistrates 32 60,720 
		
	
	The component elements of the estimates in each case are:
	(i) a district judge—actual average cost of a district judge magistrates court including: salaries (pension and national insurance), travel and subsistence, conferences and courses (external and internal), catering, car hire, training and costs of court associates sitting with district judge magistrates court.
	(ii) a bench of three magistrates—actual average costs of magistrates, including: travel and subsistence, loss of earnings for employed and self-employed magistrates and the cost of a legal adviser.
	A meaningful cost per case cannot be calculated as a completed case can involve multiple hearings and varying durations to completion.
	Previous research studies, including by IPSOS MORI available at:
	www.justice.gov.uk/publications/research.htm
	have highlighted the difficulty of comparing the relative cost and productivity of magistrates and district judges.

Magistrates' Courts: Prestatyn

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will publish all plans to upgrade Prestatyn magistrates' court made in the last six years; and what the current status of these plans is.

Shailesh Vara: In addition to ongoing maintenance work at Prestatyn magistrates court, in 2009-10 a new front entrance was installed to ensure compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act and in 2012 Health and Safety work was carried out in the custody suite to remove ligature points.
	In December 2010, as part of the HMCTS Court Estate Reform Programme (CERP), it was announced that Rhyl County Court would close with its work transferring to Prestatyn magistrates court. Since then HMCTS has continued to review its estate to ensure it meets operational requirements. As part of this work HMCTS has submitted two planning applications to Denbighshire County Council for upgrade works at Prestatyn magistrates court to inform feasibility planning. The documents supporting the applications are available for viewing through the Council's online planning application search facility.

Prison Service

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many prison officers have taken up the voluntary early departure scheme in each month since May 2010;
	(2)  how much in total has been paid in severance to prison officers taking voluntary early departure in each month since 2010;
	(3)  what the average amount is which has been paid in severance to prison officers taking voluntary early departure since 2010;
	(4)  what the average continuous service was of prison officers who have taken voluntary early departure since May 2010.

Jeremy Wright: Information of the number of prison officers in the public sector taking up voluntary early departure in each month between 1 May 2010 and 30 September 2013 and the total amount paid in severance to those officers is contained in the following table.
	The average payment made to each officer taking up voluntary early departure between May 2010 and September 2013 was £35,550.
	The average length of continuous service of each officer taking up voluntary early departure between May 2010 and September 2013 was 18.7 years.
	
		
			 Number of prison officers leaving on voluntary early departure schemes and total of payments made, May 2010 to September 2013 
			 VEDS exits 
			  Number Total of payments made (£) 
			 2010   
			 May — — 
			 June — — 
			 July — — 
			 August 40 1,153,140 
			 September — — 
			 October * * 
			 November — — 
			 December — — 
			    
			 2011   
			 January — — 
			 February — — 
			 March * * 
			 April 30 1,108,570 
			 May * * 
			 June — — 
			 July — — 
			 August — — 
			 September — — 
			 October 20 617,350 
			 November — — 
			 December 10 360,950 
			    
			 2012   
			 January — — 
			 February — — 
			 March — — 
			 April — — 
			 May — — 
			 June —  
			 July * * 
			 August 30 1,257,190 
			 September — — 
			 October — — 
			 November — — 
			 December 40 901,490 
			    
			 2013   
			 January — - 
			 February — — 
			 March 180 6,227,730 
			 April — — 
			 May * * 
			 June 180 6,353,180 
			 July 180 6,935,270 
			 August — — 
			 September 720 25,631,020 
		
	
	
		
			    
			 Total 1,430 50,914,170 
			 * Represents 5 or fewer departures in the month. Where the number of departures in a single month is five or fewer the total payments made has not been disclosed. These payments have however been included in the total. Notes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest ten. 2. Totals have been separately rounded and so may not equal the sum of the rounded parts.

Prison Service

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many prison officers have been made redundant in each month since May 2010;
	(2)  how much in redundancy pay has been paid to each prison officer in each month since May 2010.

Jeremy Wright: No prison officers in public sector prisons in England and Wales were made redundant between 1 May 2010 and 30 September 2013.
	No redundancy pay was paid to any prison officer in public sector prisons in England and Wales between 1 May 2010 and 30 September 2013.

Prisoners' Incentives and Earned Privileges Scheme

Mary Macleod: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress he has made on the rollout of changes to the incentives and privileges scheme in prisons.

Jeremy Wright: The revised Incentives and Earned Privileges national policy framework came into effect on 1 November 2013. Under the revised framework, prisoners will have to work towards their own rehabilitation, behave well and help others if they wish to earn privileges. The absence of bad behaviour alone will no longer be sufficient to progress through the scheme. We are considering separately a revised system of privileges for young people.

Probation

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to empower magistrates to require offender supervisors employed by community rehabilitation companies to give evidence in breach proceedings brought before them by the National Probation Service.

Jeremy Wright: Under the new structure, it will be for the National Probation Service (NPS) to lay information before the court in breach proceedings. Where the case has been referred to the NPS by a community rehabilitation company, the NPS should satisfy itself that the evidence of breach from that provider is robust and legal, and if necessary it can require that the provider produces more evidence before the case is presented to court.
	The court should seek the best evidence available and has the power to seek that evidence direct from the provider, and can require the CRC to attend. We will ensure that contractual arrangements require providers to take all necessary steps to support the breach process.

Probation

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions he has had with the Magistrates' Association and the Council of HM Circuit Judges about the practicability of dividing the responsibility between community rehabilitation companies and the National Probation Service for reporting breaches of supervision orders and community sentences and the enforcement of the breach in the courts; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: Officials and Ministers have regular discussions about the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms with stakeholders including the Magistrates' Association and the Council of HM Circuit Judges.
	The National Probation Service (NPS) will decide on action in relation to all potential breaches beyond a first warning. This is in accordance with section 4 of the Offender Management Act 2007 which provides that the function of “giving... assistance to any court in determining the appropriate sentence to pass, or making any other decision, in respect of a person charged with or convicted of an offence” is ‘restricted probation provision’ and must therefore be carried out by a Probation Trust or other public body. In cases where the offender is being managed by the Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC), the CRC will need to prepare all pre-breach paperwork. The NPS will then review the case and decide on the necessary action in consultation with the CRC. This mirrors existing practice in some Probation Trusts where enforcement action is taken by an officer other than the one managing the case.

Probation: Private Sector

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he has taken to ensure the competency of companies who hold Government contracts to provide probation services.

Jeremy Wright: On 19 September we launched the competition to find the future owners of the 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) which will deliver rehabilitation services in England and Wales, as set out in the Transforming Rehabilitation Strategy, announced in May. A range of providers have passed through the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire stage and will be progressed to the next stage. All of the bidders have experience working with offenders or across the wider criminal justice system. We will be testing bidders thoroughly on the proposals they submit and only bids of the highest quality will succeed. Once appointed, providers will be expected to deliver to the highest standards.
	The reformed system will be regulated and held to account through a combination of independent inspection, audit and commercial account management by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS).
	Payment by results will provide a very real incentive to providers to succeed.

HEALTH

Abortion

Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require an evidence-based psychiatric or psychological assessment with an accepted diagnostic protocol which would require a doctor to have training and experience in psychological or psychiatric medicine before being able to authorise abortions under ground C of the Abortion Act 1967.

Jane Ellison: It is accepted parliamentary practice that proposals for changes in the law on abortion are put forward by backbench Members of Parliament rather than the Government, and that decisions are made on the basis of free votes.

Abortion

Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he holds on (a) the number and proportion of medical practitioners who authorise abortion on ground C who are qualified mental health practitioners and (b) the number and proportion of cases where an abortion is certified on ground C in which the woman seeking the abortion has met the authorising medical practitioner.

Jane Ellison: Information on the number and proportion of medical practitioners authorising abortions under ground C (section 1(1)(a) of the Abortion Act) who are qualified mental health practitioners is not collected centrally.
	In 2012, the latest year for which data are available, the proportion of ground C abortions where one or more of the certifying doctors stated that they have seen and/or examined the pregnant woman was 46% (83,930) cases. It should be noted that where this information is not completed on form HSA4, the default position is that neither doctor saw or examined the pregnant woman. These data should therefore be considered with this caveat as not all doctors have specifically indicated whether or not they have met the woman.
	In November 2013, the chief medical officer for England wrote to all doctors reminding them of their duties under the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended).

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2013, Official Report, column 349W, on alcoholic drinks: misuse, how many meetings at ministerial level to discuss matters arising from the strategy have been held; and which Ministers have attended each such meeting.

Jane Ellison: Issues arising from the strategy are discussed at inter-ministerial meetings and in Cabinet committees concerning broader policy issues. Aspects of the strategy are also discussed at ministerial meetings with relevant stakeholders. It is not practicable to estimate the number of such discussions.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2013, Official Report, column 349W, on alcoholic drinks: misuse, on what date the Government and Partners Alcohol Working Group last met; when the next meeting is scheduled to take place; and which organisations have been invited to attend.

Jane Ellison: The Government and Partners Alcohol Working Group last met on 17 June 2013.
	The Government remain committed to engaging with partner organisations. Officials continue to meet with partners to discuss alcohol policy and will be scheduling further meetings with relevant organisations in due course.

Beef: Horsemeat

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the decision was (a) taken and (b) communicated to him that charges would not be brought against people implicated in selling horsemeat as beef.

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) advise a decision has not been taken so there has been no communication.
	The decision to take forward prosecutions rests with the police and prosecuting authorities not the Government. Investigations into possible criminal activity on horsemeat are ongoing in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe. Progress has been made which has led to arrests in both the UK and in other member states. The City of London police is leading the criminal investigation into the incident. It is not appropriate to comment on the detail of these investigations. This is a criminal investigation and as such details will not appear in the public domain as the investigation proceeds.

Behavioural Disorders

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many cases of Asperger's syndrome were treated by the NHS in each region in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many cases of bipolar disorder were treated by the NHS in each region in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how many cases of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were treated by the NHS in each region in each of the last five years;
	(4)  how many cases of anti-social personality disorder were treated by the NHS in each region in each of the last five years.

Norman Lamb: The data requested are not held centrally by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.
	However, in relation to cases of attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines indicate that 3% and 9% of young people in the United Kingdom now have some form of ADHD, depending on the criteria used. In September 2008 NICE published guidance ‘Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Diagnosis and management of ADHD in children, young people and adults’:
	http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/12061/42107/42107.pdf
	This was reviewed in 2011. NICE'S conclusion at that time was that there was no new evidence that would invalidate the existing recommendations.

Brain: Tumours

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will distribute the Brain Tumour Charity's HeadSmart symptoms awareness cards to every clinical commissioning group.

Jane Ellison: This is a matter for the ‘HeadSmart’ campaign to discuss with NHS England and clinical commissioning groups.
	However, we understand that the NHS Choices website, which offers a wide range of resources to support health care professionals in their work with patients, includes a link to the HeadSmart campaign materials at:
	www.nhs.uk/conditions/brain-tumours/pages/introduction.aspx

Breast Cancer

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with professional bodies on the use of vitamin D as a preventative measure against breast cancer.

Jane Ellison: Ministers have had no discussions with professional bodies about the use of vitamin D as a preventative measure against breast cancer.

Cancer

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of the symptoms of all cancer types to enable GPs and other healthcare providers to make earlier diagnoses and referrals.

Jane Ellison: Raising awareness of symptoms of cancers falls within the campaigns that are now the responsibility of Public Health England (PHE). Be Clear on Cancer public campaigns (encouraging symptom recognition and earlier general practitioner presentation) have been running since early 2011 and have covered a number of cancers nationally and regionally; these include bowel, lung, kidney and bladder under the common symptom of “blood in pee”, breast, ovarian and oesophageal.
	PHE works closely with the Department and NHS England to ensure that health care professionals are also targeted with campaign information to encourage earlier diagnoses and referrals. Results to date have been very encouraging.

Cancer: Drugs

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of an overspend in the Cancer Drugs Fund on cancer patients' access to medicines.

Norman Lamb: We are assured by NHS England that any potential overspend of the Cancer Drugs Fund in the current financial year will not affect the ability of other cancer patients to access cancer medicines.

Cancer: Drugs

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make an assessment of the effect of negative technology appraisals from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the demand for medicines through the Cancer Drugs Fund since (a) April 2013 and (b) the creation of the fund in 2010.

Norman Lamb: Cancer drugs that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has been unable to recommend on grounds of clinical and cost-effectiveness are available through the Cancer Drugs Fund subject to decisions by the fund's clinical panel. If NICE is unable to recommend a cancer drug for routine use in the national health service, this will inevitably have the potential to lead to requests to access that drug through the fund.

Cancer: Drugs

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 24 October 2013, Official Report, columns 248-9W, on cancer: drugs, what steps NHS England plans to take to improve the (a) collection and (b) analysis of data about spending through the Cancer Drugs Fund;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with NHS England about future publication arrangements for expenditure information on the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Norman Lamb: NHS England has informed us that data on the applications approved through the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) are reported monthly by the four regional/area teams that operationally manage the fund. This information is published quarterly on NHS England's website.
	Alongside this, financial spend data are received monthly from each of the NHS England area teams and reviewed at a monthly national CDF team meeting. This information allows NHS England to review invoiced spend to date (from NHS trusts), review each region's predictions for end of year spend and refine national predictions of end of year spend.
	The national prediction of spend is developed by NHS England's Chemotherapy Clinical Reference Group. It is informed by data on applications received to date, as well as predications of likely future demand and costs associated with the drugs available within the national CDF priority list.
	We understand that summary expenditure information showing invoiced spend to date, regional predicted spend and the current national predicted spend on the CDF will be published by NHS England in the next few weeks.

Cervical Cancer

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to increase awareness of cervical cancer symptoms and the importance of screening, especially of women aged between 25 to 29 and 60 to 64.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England has work in hand to improve the performance and quality of the NHS Cervical Screening Programme (NHS CSP), including work to improve screening rates in areas with low uptake.
	There is a lack of published evidence regarding the effectiveness of interventions designed to increase attendance among women aged under 35. The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme has commissioned a £1 million study to determine which interventions are effective at increasing screening uptake among women who are receiving their first invitation from the NHS CSP at around age 25. The “Strategies to increase cervical screening uptake at first invitation” (STRATEGIC) study is trialling interventions such as: a pre-invitation leaflet; internet appointment booking; timed appointments; the provision of personal support through nurse navigators; and human papillomavirus self-sampling. The study began in November 2011 and is due to run until October 2015.
	We are aware of falling coverage rates in women aged 60 to 64. This may be because having cervical samples taken is uncomfortable for older women, and it can be difficult for the sample taker to take the sample. However, we do not underestimate the issue, and screening acceptance among women aged 60 to 64 will be a substantive item on the agenda of the Advisory Committee on Cervical Screening when it next meets in the spring.
	Regarding awareness, in partnership with the Department and NHS England, since April 2013, Public Health England (PHE) has taken on the running of the Be Clear on Cancer campaigns to highlight the symptoms of a range of cancers and to encourage people with the relevant symptoms to visit their general practitioner.
	Our focus so far has been on cancers with the largest number of avoidable deaths, compared with countries with the best survival rates. However, PHE, the Department and NHS England will keep these campaigns under review and work with relevant experts to see what might be done to tackle awareness of the symptoms of other cancers, such as cervical cancer.

Cervical Cancer

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to improve cervical cancer prevention following the recently published Public Health Outcomes Framework.

Jane Ellison: The human papillomavirus (HPV) is responsible for nearly all cases of cervical cancer. The national HPV vaccination programme, which began in 2008, protects against the strains of HPV which cause 70% of cervical cancer and has among the highest vaccine uptake rates in the world. Evidence from clinical trials has demonstrated a very high vaccine efficacy against the pre-cursors of cervical cancer.
	In addition, the NHS Cervical Screening Programme aims to prevent cervical cancer by detecting and treating abnormalities of the cervix which may have gone on to develop into cancer. Over 3.5 million women are screened every year in England, and experts estimate the programme saves around 4,500 lives a year.
	The programme is currently being modernised to provide a more personalised service to women and to make it more cost-effective, and from April 2014, HPV testing as triage for women with low grade screening results and for women already treated for abnormalities will be routine. A world-leading pilot of HPV testing as primary screening is also under way which, if proven to be successful, will provide an even more personalised, more cost-effective service to women.
	Public Health England has work in hand to improve the performance and quality of the programme, including work to improve screening rates in areas with low uptake.

Christmas Cards

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on Christmas cards and postage in each year since 2010.

Daniel Poulter: The Department has conducted a search of its own Business Management System which has not identified any expenditure on Christmas cards and postage.
	A search to identify any possible expenditure for Christmas cards and postage incurred by the Department through Government Procurement Cards and i-expenses would incur a disproportionate cost for the Department. This level of information is not recorded separately and costs for these items are not available without checking every line of every claim.

Clostridium Difficile

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of c. difficile infection were treated by the NHS in each region in each of the last 24 months.

Daniel Poulter: Although Public Health England (PHE) does not specifically collect data on how many cases were treated for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), as part of its mandatory surveillance programmes it does collect data on the number of cases of CDI.
	The data summarised in Table 1 represent the total number of cases of CDI reported to PHE and the rates of CDI across England per quarter for the previous four calendar years (April 2010 to September 2013 inclusive). The data show that the CDI rate has decreased by 40% over this time period from 46.76 cases per 100,000 population in Q2 2010 to 27.89 cases per 100,000 population in Q3 2013.
	
		
			 Table 1: Summary of cases of CDI reported to PHE and rates of CDI across England, by quarter of specimen collection 
			  Quarter Reported C. difficile specimens Rate per 100,000 population 
			 2010 Q2 5,981 46.76 
			  Q3 5,909 45.69 
			  Q4 4,984 38.54 
			     
			 2011 Q1 4,833 37.87 
			  Q2 4,967 38.49 
			  Q3 4,994 33.34 
			  Q4 4,350 33.34 
			     
			 2012 Q1 3,711 28.64 
			  Q2 3,656 28.22 
			  Q3 3,870 29.54 
			  Q4 3,756 28.67 
			     
			 2013 Q1 3,412 26.55 
			  Q2 3,381 26.02 
			  Q3 3,663 27.89 
		
	
	The data summarised in Table 2 represent the total number of cases of CDI reported to PHE by NHS region in each of the last 19 months which are the most recently available published data.
	
		
			 Table 2: Summary of cases of CDI reported to PHE, by NHS England region and month of specimen collection 
			  2012 
			 NHS England region Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 
			  2013 
			 NHS England region Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 
			 North of England — — — 373 406 456 453 424 426 435 442 404 
			 Midlands and East of England — — — 344 345 343 377 412 382 430 374 332 
			 London — — — 157 142 122 149 139 137 173 122 114 
			 South of England — — — 318 351 298 307 353 308 349 316 265 
			 Specialist Commissioning Hub — — — 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total — — — 1,192 1,244 1,219 1,286 1,328 1,253 1,387 1,254 1,115 
			 North of England 411 336 394 393 392 344 369 416 401 411 411 336 
			 Midlands and East of England 337 340 326 342 339 335 334 368 372 384 337 340 
			 London 149 129 131 136 114 100 132 131 136 135 149 129 
			 South of England 301 263 294 295 298 292 327 353 324 277 301 263 
			 Specialist Commissioning Hub 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Total 1,199 1,068 1,145 1,166 1,144 1,071 1,162 1,268 1,233 1,207 1,199 1,068 
			 Note: Data were extracted from the PHE data capture system on 26 November 2013.

Cosmetics

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on cosmetic make-up in each year since 2010.

Daniel Poulter: The Department has conducted a search of its own Business Management System which has not identified any expenditure on cosmetic make-up.
	A search to identify any possible expenditure for cosmetic make-up incurred by the Department through Government Procurement Cards and i-expenses would incur a disproportionate cost for the Department. This level of information is not recorded separately and costs for these items are not available without checking every line of every claim.

Depressive Illnesses

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 28 November 2013, Official Report, column 413W, on depressive illnesses, if he will commission research into changes in the average age of the onset of depression over the last 50 years and the consequences of such changes for policy development.

Daniel Poulter: The Department has no plans to commission research into the average age of the onset of depression.
	The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds a wide range of research relating to depression. The NIHR Clinical Research Network is currently recruiting patients to 37 studies in depression.

Drugs: Misuse

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many new psychoactive substances have been identified by the National Poisons Information Service in each month since May 2010; and how many such substances have been referred to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

Jane Ellison: Identification of Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) requires analytical confirmation of exposure; this is achieved by identification of the responsible NPS in biological samples from the patient, such as blood or urine. This is not performed as part of routine clinical care and there is no current mechanism for obtaining such analyses on a United Kingdom-wide basis for public health surveillance purposes. As a result it is unusual for NHS staff or the National Poisons information Service (NPIS) to be able to identify a NPS formally. Since May 2010 there have been two occasions where NPIS has been able to work with NHS clinicians and an analytical laboratory to provide laboratory identification of a specific NPS. Both episodes were reported either to Advisory Council on Misuse of Drugs or the UK Focal Point and subsequently to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).
	In addition, the Government's Forensic Early Warning System identified 10 substances in the UK in 2012-13. These were reported to the EMCDDA via a submission from the Focal Point.

Food: Contamination

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many food adulteration surveys on foods other than meat the Food Standards Agency has carried out since January 2013.

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is the central competent authority for food safety and has a statutory function to protect public health and consumers' other interests in relation to food and drink. While the FSA leads on food safety aspects of labelling in England the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is responsible for policy on labelling and non-food safety issues.
	The majority of food law enforcement is delegated to local authorities throughout the United Kingdom who carry out checks of food businesses in their area to ensure compliance with food safety, traceability and labelling requirements. The FSA makes funding available to UK local authorities and ports for sampling and surveillance of food to help ensure risk-based targeted checks throughout the food chain. Priorities for the National Risk-Based Food Sampling Programme are agreed with DEFRA, and for 2013-14 include the following areas of non-meat food authenticity:
	Fish speciation/DNA testing;
	Fruit Juice adulteration—To check that no "Made from concentrate" juice is labelled as freshly squeezed/not from concentrate;
	Authenticity of durum wheat; and
	Authenticity of Basmati rice.
	A small study on geographic origin of foods is being carried out by the FSA, in partnership with DEFRA, to look at the geographic origin of foods (including tomatoes, apple juice and honey) claiming to be from the UK. Further information on this can be found at:
	http://food.gov.uk/news-updates/news/2014/jan/isotopes

General Practitioners

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the potential effect on patient care of raising NHS general practice funding from 8.5 per cent to 11 per cent by 2017.

Daniel Poulter: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), has not made a direct assessment of the potential effect of raising NHS general practice funding from 8.5% to 11% by 2017.
	Primary medical care is the responsibility of NHS England and it is for that body to determine the level of funding required to deliver those services in order to meet the needs of patients.
	NHS England is developing a strategic framework for commissioning of primary care services, strengthening general practice and enabling it to play an even more pivotal role at the heart of more integrated systems of out-of-hospital care for patients and local communities.
	The Government recognise the central role that primary care has to play in helping keep people healthy, supporting proactive management of long-term health needs and reducing the need for hospital admissions. The Government will set out, later this year, plans for improving care for vulnerable older people, including the central role that general practitioners have to play in helping people to stay healthy and live independently.

General Practitioners

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GPs there were in each (a) parliamentary constituency, (b) local authority and (c) region; and how many patients each such GP was responsible for in each year since 2005.

Daniel Poulter: The information is not collected in the requested format.
	Information is available showing the number of general practitioners (GPs) in each strategic health authority and primary care trust (PCT) area, along with the average number of patients per GP in each PCT area for the years requested.
	A copy of this information has been placed in the Library.

General Practitioners: Telephone Services

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on doctors' surgeries using 0844 numbers.

Daniel Poulter: Regulations introduced in 2010 prevented general practice practices from entering into, renewing or extending a contract for telephone services unless it was satisfied that, looking at the arrangements as a whole, patients would not pay more to make calls to the practice than they would to make calls to a geographical number.
	It is for NHS England to ensure that practices are meeting the terms of their contracting arrangements.

Health

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff are currently employed by NHS England specifically to work on public health issues.

Jane Ellison: NHS England have advised that they have 152 members of staff working in the area of public health, although not all of these roles are exclusive to public health work and extend into other areas of NHS England's activities. Within this group of 152 staff there is a balance between managerial and support staff. Around 85% of the people engaged in these roles are based in NHS England's Regional and Area Teams, with the rest in NHS England's national office.
	NHS England works closely alongside Public Health England and other relevant bodies to ensure a co-ordinated response on such issues.

Health

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff are currently employed by his Department specifically to work on public health issues.

Jane Ellison: The Department's Public Health Directorate has a headcount of 332 staff. Many others across the Department work on public health issues from time to time. In addition Public Health England, an executive agency of the Department, has a headcount of 5,276 staff. The distribution of Public Health England staff is set out in the table:
	
		
			 Public Health England—Where staff work and how they are employed as at December 2013 payroll 
			 Work location (Directorate) How deployed Headcount FTE 
			 Chief Executive's office Total 20 19.8 
			     
			 Operations Total 2,921 2,737 
			  Microbiology - site operations (Colindale and Porton) 129 123.3 
			  Research Microbiology (specialist centre—Porton) 131 127.6 
			  Development and Production (specialist site—Porton) 188 183.6 
			  Specialist Microbiology Services—lab network 1,117 1,036.5 
			  Reference Microbiology (specialist centre—Colindale) 315 300.3 
		
	
	
		
			  Regions and Centres—London region 138 129.9 
			  Regions and Centres—midlands and east of England region 278 256.5 
			  Regions and Centres—north of England region 291 269.6 
			  Regions and Centres—south of England region 268 246.7 
			  Other Operations Directorate staff 66 63.0 
			     
			 Health Protection Total 926 880.1 
			  Centre for Radiation, Chemical and environmental hazards 389 367.4 
			  Emergency Response 72 69.5 
			  Field Epidemiology 117 112.3 
			  Infectious Disease Surveillance and Control 300 285.1 
			  Public Health Strategy 32 29.9 
			  Other Health Protection Directorate staff 16 15.9 
			     
			 Knowledge (CKO) Total 550 498.7 
			  Disease Registration (regional teams) 214 195.3 
			  Drug Treatment Monitoring (regional teams) 56 54.3 
			  Evidence and Intelligence Service (regional teams) 217 191.9 
			  Libraries 15 13.7 
			  National Cancer Intelligence Network 25 23.6 
			  Other CKO Directorate staff 23 19.9 
			     
			 Health and Wellbeing Total 478 451.6 
			  Cancer screening 144 130.6 
			  Non-cancer screening 128 124.1 
			  Healthcare Public Health 42 39.7 
			  Social Marketing 47 44.7 
			  Other Health and Wellbeing Directorate staff 117 112.5 
			     
			 Communications Total 54 52.8 
			     
			 Finance and Commercial Total 216 209.8 
			     
			 Human Resources Total 78 74.2 
			     
			 Nursing and Midwifery Total 1 1 
			     
			 Programmes Total 16 15.8 
			     
			 Strategy Total 16 16 
			     
			  Grand total 5,276 4,956.8

Health Education

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2013, Official Report, column 353W, on health education, what percentage of the Change4Life budget is being spent on (a) alcohol, (b) obesity and physical health and (c) other areas.

Jane Ellison: Approximately 1.1% of the 2013-14 Change4Life budget can be identified as being spent solely in the alcohol area. Other spend on alcohol cannot be identified separately such as the cost of maintaining the Change4Life website which includes alcohol pages.
	The remainder of the Change4Life budget is spent promoting healthy eating and activity in a programme designed to fight obesity, encouraging physical health and mental well-being.

Health: Children

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of levels of fitness of school children (a) nationally and (b) by region.

Jane Ellison: The Department has not made an estimate on the levels of fitness of school children either nationally or by region, as we do not collect these data.
	We know that too many children are overweight and we want more children to do regular exercise. That is why we have committed to giving primary schools £180 million of ring-fenced funding to improve physical education and sport so that all pupils develop healthy, active lifestyles.

Health: Children

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's top five children's health priorities are following the publication of the Chief Medical Officer's report, Our children deserve better - prevention pays.

Daniel Poulter: The Chief Medical Officer's report was very helpful in highlighting the case for improving children and young people's health and the need for a greater focus on prevention.
	In February 2013, I launched a national pledge to improve the health outcomes of our children and young people so that they become among the best in the world. The pledge, which is entirely consistent with the findings set out in the Chief Medical Officer's report, included five shared ambitions which summarise this Department's top five children's health priorities:
	Children, young people and their families will be at the heart of decision-making, with the health outcomes that matter most to them taking priority;
	Services, from pregnancy through to adolescence and beyond, will be high quality, evidence-based and safe, delivered at the right time, in the right place, by a properly planned, educated and trained work force;
	Good mental and physical health and early interventions, including for children and young people with long-term conditions, will be of equal importance to caring for those who become acutely unwell;
	Services will be integrated and care will be co-ordinated around the individual with an optimal experience of transition to adult services for those young people who require ongoing health and care in adult life; and
	There will be clear leadership, accountability and assurance and organisations will work in partnership for the benefit of children and young people.
	The pledge has been signed up to by a wide range of organisations. For the very first time, this shows that everyone across the health and care system is determined to play their part in improving health outcomes for children and young people.

Health: Children

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will revise the methodology for health technology assessments of interventions in children to recognise differences between adult and child health in the light of the Chief Medical Officer's report Our children deserve better—prevention pays.

Norman Lamb: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for issuing guidance to the national health service on the clinical and cost-effective use of new and existing treatments, including medicines licensed for children, through its technology appraisal guidance.
	NICE is responsible for the methods it uses for the development of its technology appraisal guidance and its ‘Guide to the Methods of Technology Appraisal’, available at:
	http://publications.nice.org.uk/guide-to-the-methods-of-technology-appraisal-2013-pmg9
	recognises that there may be differences in how health benefits should be measured depending on age. NICE recently carried out a periodic review of its methods including extensive engagement with stakeholders.

HIV Infection: Vaccination

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide funding for the Society for General Microbiology for its microbiologists to continue their ongoing research into new treatments for infections and to enable them to carry on their progress in developing an HIV vaccine.

Daniel Poulter: The Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including infection. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and the national health service, value for money and scientific quality. Applications are welcome from microbiologists, including members of the Society for General Microbiology carrying out research at institutions in England.
	In 2012-13, the NIHR spent a total of £23.8 million on infection research. This includes research relating to HIV vaccines carried out by NIHR biomedical research centres.

Horsemeat

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Food Standards Agency spent on (a) the sampling regime for testing for horsemeat in 2013 and (b) sampling horse carcasses for phenylbutazone residue in 2013 after the 100% sampling regime was introduced.

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) set up a United Kingdom-wide sampling programme of beef products in early 2013, initially in two phases. Products were tested for both horse and pig DNA and, where this was found, further analysis was carried out for phenylbutazone. Recommendation 2013/99/EU established a European Union-wide co-ordinated control plan, in which member states were asked to test certain foods marketed and/or labelled as containing beef for the presence of horse DNA. These sampling requests were incorporated into the UK survey as a third phase.
	The FSA has met the cost of sampling and analysis and a contribution of £50 towards the costs of sample purchase and handling for food samples. The combined costs of sampling and testing for horse DNA and phenylbutazone residues in the various phases:
	Phase 1—£113,800 (224 samples collected)
	Phase 2—£73,800 (140 samples collected)
	Phase 3—£33,300 (150 samples collected)
	(Costs for phases 1 and 2 include testing for pig DNA. Costs for phase 3 include the partial reimbursement from the EU to cover the costs of the horse DNA tests carried out under Recommendation 2013/99/EU).
	In addition to the above sampling, the Agency's National Coordinated Food Sampling Grants Programme for 2013-14 includes a priority for meat authenticity samples and an additional £700,000 was made available to support this.
	The combined costs for sampling horse carcases and testing for phenylbutazone residues from January 2013 to the end of November 2013, since the 100% sampling regime was introduced, and which the FSA has met are £700,800. A proportion of these costs were reimbursed by the EU under Recommendation 2013/99/EU for testing carried out as part of the EU wide survey.

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the target waiting time is for urgent spinal surgery; how many hospitals are in breach of waiting time targets for urgent spinal surgery; and what the average waiting time for such patients is in (a) Merseyside, (b) the north-west and (c) the UK.

Jane Ellison: The operational standards for consultant-led elective care waiting times for the national health service in England are that:
	a minimum of 90% of admitted patients should start treatment within 18 weeks of referral;
	a minimum of 95% of non-admitted patients should start treatment within 18 weeks of referral; and
	a minimum of 92% of patients on an incomplete pathway (patients still waiting to start treatment) should have been waiting no more than 18 weeks.
	These standards apply to elective spinal surgery; however, all patients should be treated without unnecessary delay and according to clinical need.
	Further information requested is not available. NHS England collects and publishes monthly referral to treatment (RTT) data which are used to monitor consultant-led NHS waiting times in England. The national RTT waiting times data are not collected at procedure level, but only at treatment function level.

In Vitro Fertilisation

David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of his Department's progress on implementing the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's recommendation that funding should be made available to provide patients with three full cycles of IVF.

Jane Ellison: Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning many health care services, including infertility services, to meet the requirements of their population. In doing so, CCGs need to ensure that the services they provide are fit for purpose, reflect the needs of the local people and are value for money.
	To support CCGs in their commissioning of infertility services, NHS England have issued a factsheet to them which sets out how CCGs should approach commissioning fertility services and take account of the revised National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Fertility Guideline.

Meningitis: Vaccination

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department gives to GPs in England and Wales regarding the use of the Bexsero meningitis B vaccine.

Jane Ellison: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the independent expert committee that advises the Government, has not yet made a final recommendation about the use of the meningococcal B vaccine Bexsero®. Accordingly, the Department, Public Health England and NHS England have not issued guidance on this topic to general practitioners.

Mental Health

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff are currently employed by his Department specifically to work on mental health issues.

Norman Lamb: The Department currently employs 16.1 people solely on mental health policy. However, the number of people for whom mental health policy forms a significant part of their work would be much higher.

Musculoskeletal Disorders: East Midlands

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure the long-term security of the neuromuscular care advisor role in the East Midlands; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: NHS England is responsible for commissioning specialised services, including neuromuscular services.
	In July 2013 NHS England published the service specification ‘Neurosciences: Specialised Neurology (Adult)’. The service specification describes the service to be commissioned by NHS England for patients with a neuromuscular disorder. Care is provided via a managed clinical pathway that supports multi-disciplinary and cross-organisational working. The multi-disciplinary team included neuromuscular care co-ordinators.
	The service specification has been implemented from 1 October 2013. NHS England is working with providers to ensure they are compliant with the service description and standards.

Musculoskeletal Disorders: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the demand for neuromuscular care adviser provision and specialist physiotherapy for people with neuromuscular conditions in the Hull area; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: NHS England is responsible for commissioning specialised services, including neuromuscular services. As such, the Department has made no assessment of the demand for neuromuscular care adviser provision and specialist physiotherapy for people with neuromuscular conditions in the Hull area.
	In July 2013 NHS England published the service specification Neurosciences: Specialised Neurology (Adult). This describes the service to be commissioned by NHS England for patients with a neuromuscular disorder. Care is provided via a managed clinical pathway that supports multidisciplinary and cross-organisational working. The multi-disciplinary team includes neuromuscular care coordinators.
	The service specification has been implemented from 1 October 2013. NHS England is working with providers to ensure they comply with the service description and standards.

Musculoskeletal Disorders: North East

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to create an additional neuromuscular care advisor post for the North East region; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure an additional neuromuscular care advisory post is in place for the North East region; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: NHS England is responsible for commissioning specialised services, including neuromuscular services.
	NHS England published ‘Neurosciences: Specialised Neurology (Adult)’ in July 2013. This service specification describes the service commissioned by NHS England for patients with a neuromuscular disorder. Care is provided via a managed clinical pathway that supports multi-disciplinary and cross-organisational working. The multi-disciplinary team includes neuromuscular care co-ordinators.
	The service specification has been implemented from 1 October 2013. NHS England is working with providers to ensure they comply with the service description and standards.

National Healthy Schools Programme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the potential effect on child health of the Government's decision to abolish the Healthy Schools Programme.

Jane Ellison: The Healthy Schools Programme has not been abolished but has progressed into a schools-led model following a review in 2010.
	Schools continue to play an important role in supporting the health and well-being of children and young people, which is why the Healthy Schools toolkit is designed to help schools to ‘plan, do and review’ health and well-being improvements for their children and young people and to identify and select activities and interventions effectively. This is currently available on the Department for Education's website and remains available for schools to use, should they choose to.

Nurses: Schools

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the number of school nurses in each of the next two years.

Daniel Poulter: Health Education England (HEE) has published the first ever national Workforce Plan which sets out clearly the investments HEE intends to make in education and training programmes to begin in September 2014. This plan is built upon the needs of frontline employers, who as members of HEE's local education training boards have shaped the 13 local plans that form the basis of our plan for England.
	For 'registered nurses working in school nursing services', employers have forecast that their future requirements will increase by 0.9% in 2013-14 and decrease by 0.7% in 2014-15. It should be noted, however, that approximately 40% of these are recorded as being 'school nurses' (with a post-registration school nurse qualification), with the remaining 60% being other types of 'registered nurse'. There is no specific forecast for the future number of school nurses in its narrower sense.

Nurses: Schools

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many qualified school nurses there were in (a) Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency, (b) Birmingham and (c) England in each of the last three years.

Daniel Poulter: The annual workforce census published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre does not capture the number of school nurses (with the post registration school nurse qualification) that are employed by state and independent schools or other non-NHS employers including local education authorities.
	The annual workforce census collects the number of school nurses (with the post registration school nurse qualification) employed by the national health service in England at 30 September each year up to 2012. Information on the number of qualified school nurses employed in the NHS in 2013 will be available following publication of the annual workforce census in March 2014.
	The number of qualified school nurses employed by the NHS in the Birmingham area and England in each of the last three years is shown in the following table. It is not possible to map organisation level workforce data to exact geographical areas. The organisations listed in the following table employ qualified school nurses in the Birmingham area. While these organisations will be the direct employer, this should not be seen as an exact indication of the area where these staff work.
	
		
			 Full-time equivalent 
			   2010 2011 2012 
			   All school nursing nurses of which qualified school nurse All school nursing nurses of which qualified school nurse All school nursing nurses of which qualified school nurse 
			 England  3,003 1,096 2,997 1,165 2,936 1,174 
			 of which        
			 West Midlands Strategic Health Authority area  368 188 414 215 401 235 
			 of which        
			 Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust RYW 0 0 85 62 80 64 
			 Birmingham East and North Primary Care Trust (PCT) 5PG 27 21 0 0 0 0 
			 Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT 5MX 13 1 0 0 0 0 
			 Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust RXK 0 0 0 0 22 17 
			 South Birmingham PCT 5M1 41 35 0 0 0 0 
			 University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust RRK 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre Non-Medical Workforce Census.

Nurses: Training

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nursing training places were provided in each region in the last year for which figures are available.

Daniel Poulter: The following table contains the number of nurse training places that were provided in 2012-13 in England. The 2013-14 data are not yet available. The table includes the students enrolled on the degree and diploma courses.
	
		
			 Strategic health authority region Total nursing commissions (number) 
			 North East 991 
			 North West 3,036 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 1,681 
			 East Midlands 1,387 
			 West Midlands 2,105 
			 East of England 1,469 
			 London 3,093 
			 South East Coast 1,065 
			 South Central 1,115 
			 South West 1,277 
			 Total 17,219 
			 Source: Multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns.

Obesity

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Public Health England's work on obesity; and what recent discussions he has had with that body on tackling obesity.

Jane Ellison: No formal assessment has been carried out but Ministers regularly meet senior Public Health England (PHE) management to discuss and take stock of its work on obesity. Departmental officials also have regular conversations with PHE on priority areas such as obesity. Furthermore, the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt) has met with the chief executive and chair of PHE to discuss the full range of PHE's priorities.

Obesity

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time staff of Public Health England are working on obesity matters.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) has approximately 12 full-time staff working on obesity from the following teams: obesity and healthy weight, obesity knowledge and intelligence and staff working on childhood obesity in the children, young people and families' team. In addition, through PHE's matrix working approach, teams which make a significant contribution to the work on obesity include: Diet and Obesity; Children; Health Equity; Adults and Older People; Marketing which includes Change4Life and PHE Regional and Centre teams.

Obesity

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps Public Health England has taken to disseminate information about anti-obesity programmes; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) has taken a number of steps to disseminate information and support local authorities in tackling obesity which includes:
	publishing its early programme of work on obesity in July 2013;
	running local engagement events around England to engage with local authorities on obesity;
	publishing weekly Obesity Knowledge Updates which highlight new research, reports, resources and news relating to obesity and its determinants;
	producing and publishing evidence summaries and action briefings for local authorities; and
	launching in January2014 the Change4Life Smart Swaps campaign:
	https://smartswaps.change4life.co.uk/

Obesity

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with Public Health England on encouraging directors of public health to compile registers of appropriate community weight management options in their region.

Jane Ellison: Directors of Public Health (DsPH) offer valued and strategic public health leadership at a local level and therefore it is a priority for Public Health England (PHE) to gain DsPH insights into current key issues to inform its approach to tackling obesity.
	PHE working with the Association for Directors of Public Health and the Local Government Association commissioned a survey to explore DsPH views. The results of this survey are due to be published on 15 January 2014.
	The survey has two core aims to explore the views of DsPH on:
	current strategic issues relating to obesity and how obesity was positioned within local priorities; and
	priority areas for PHE action and to ascertain priority for the centres and national teams.
	PHE is developing a programme of work that supports local level commissioning of weight management services, involving local level participation in this process. This programme will include looking holistically across the obesity care pathways and reviewing how existing guidance is used; working with our centres; local level commissioning contacts and other partners.

Official Hospitality

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department spent on hospitality for visitors to Richmond House in each year since 2010.

Daniel Poulter: The cost of provision of hospitality for visitors to Richmond House in each year since 2009 is:
	
		
			  Spend (£) 
			 2009 193,368 
			 2010 126,432 
			 2011 90,574 
			 2012 88,533 
			 2013 76,302 
		
	
	The expenditure in 2013 represents a 60.5% reduction in costs compared to 2009.

Pancreatic Cancer

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will consider the recommendations of the APPG for pancreatic cancer’s report, Time to Change the Story: A plan of action for pancreatic cancer.

Jane Ellison: The Department welcomes the all-party parliamentary group for pancreatic cancer’s report, Time to Change the Story: A plan of action for pancreatic cancer. The 12 recommendations set out in the report cover a wide range of organisations in the new national health service structures. The Department will consider any relevant aspects of the recommendations it has direct responsibility for and encourages the appropriate organisations to consider pertinent recommendations in detail.

Parkinson's Disease

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many continuing health care funding applications were received for patients with a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease in each year since 2009; and how many such applications were successful in each year since 2009.

Norman Lamb: The Department does not collect information on the numbers of applications for NHS continuing health care relating to individuals who have a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.

Pharmacy

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department gives NHS trusts and bodies regarding the opening hours of pharmacies, with particular regard to (a) 24 hour and (b) Sunday opening; and if he will make statement.

Norman Lamb: National health service trusts determine the opening hours of their hospital pharmacies to meet the needs of patients and hospital services. The Department has not issued guidance on hospital pharmacy opening hours.
	The Department issued guidance to primary care trusts in 2005 regarding the opening hours of community pharmacies, updated in 2009, “The NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations: information for primary care trusts—revised September 2009”, a copy of which has been placed in the Library. NHS England is now responsible for commissioning community pharmacy services, including issuing any guidance on opening hours.

Plants

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on pot plants in each year since 2010.

Daniel Poulter: The Department spent a total of £12,383.80 on plants and trees in the period May 2010 to March 2011 for its core headquarters estate. No specific expenditure on pot plants has been incurred in the period from April 2011 to date.
	Maintenance of existing departmental owned pot plants is undertaken as part of our wider facilities management contract. In renegotiating this contract in 2010, as a part of a wider clamp down on unnecessary administrative spend, the Department aimed to reduce spend on horticulture and returned all rented plants among other areas of expenditure.

Princess Royal Hospital NHS Trust

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the value for money of the PFI contract at the Princess Royal Hospital Bromley.

Daniel Poulter: The business case to proceed with the signing of the private finance initiative (PFI) contract for the Princess Royal Hospital, Bromley, was approved in 1998 under the previous Government, and a value for money appraisal was done at that point.
	Under this Government the Department reviewed the affordability of PFI contracts of 22 national health service trusts in the context of their achieving NHS foundation trust status. This work concluded that six of these needed some additional financial support to enable them to be sustainable providers of high quality health care services. They are being given access to financial support of up to £1.5 billion in total over a period of 25 years. South London Healthcare NHS Trust, which held the PFI contract for Princess Royal Hospital, Bromley, before its dissolution on 1 October 2013, was one of these six trusts. Upon dissolution the contract has now transferred to King's College NHS Foundation Trust and for the next five years the level of support for this PFI contract has been agreed as follows:
	
		
			 To King's College NHS FT 
			  £ million 
			 2013-14 10.5 
			 2014-15 10.8 
			 2015-16 11.1 
			 2016-17 11.5 
			 2017-18 11.8 
			 Total 55.7 
		
	
	Beyond this point payments will be indexed for the duration of the PFI contract on the same basis as the PFI contract.

Statistics

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent discussions his Department has had with the Office for National Statistics on retention of statistical health outputs relating to (a) winter-related deaths, (b) health inequalities, (c) cancer deaths and (d) alcohol-related deaths;
	(2)  if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department’s response to the Office for National Statistics’ Consultation on Statistical Products 2013.

Jane Ellison: The Department responded to this important consultation by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on possible reductions to its statistical products, including outputs relating to winter-related deaths, health inequalities, cancer deaths and alcohol-related deaths.
	This response included a strategic statement approved by chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, and a detailed assessment of the impact on our work if the outputs included in the consultation were stopped. A copy of the response has been placed in the Library.
	Officials in the Department had discussions with ONS before the consultation and continue to have discussions now that the consultation has closed.

Stress

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 6 November 2013, Official Report, column 252W, on stress, what assessment he has made of the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College London research on whether stress-induced ischaemia can result in elevation of cardiac troponin; and in what ways that research has informed his Department’s policies.

Daniel Poulter: The Department has updated its assessment of the current status of this research carried out by the National Institute for Health Research Cardiovascular biomedical research unit at the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College London. The trust has reported that a paper arising from the research is being finalised.

Surgery

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many surgeons are qualified to undertake L5 S1 anterior fusion surgery in (a) Merseyside, (b) the north-west and (c) the UK.

Daniel Poulter: The number of surgeons qualified to undertake L5 S1 anterior fusion surgery in Merseyside, the north-west and the United Kingdom is not collected by the Department. L5 S1 anterior fusion surgery is not a recognised Certificate of Completion of Training qualification, but is based on a doctor’s interest and experience.
	The content and standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council informed by the relevant Medical Royal College.
	Where additional training is required for individual posts, it is delivered by continuing professional development (CPD). CPD is the responsibility of individual practitioners and their employers.

Training

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what professional coaching he and other Ministers in his Department have received in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of that coaching.

Daniel Poulter: The ministerial team have not received any professional coaching in the last 12 months.

Tuberculosis

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding his Department provides to ensure that individuals with TB but without recourse to public funds are provided with shelter and support for the duration of their treatment.

Jane Ellison: The Department sets NHS England a Mandate and provides a total funding envelope. It is then for NHS England to decide how best to fulfil the Mandate objectives including how much funding is allocated to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) who commission health services on behalf of their local population. It is for local CCGs to decide how to best use the funding allocated to them, underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local health care needs.
	All patients with TB are exempt from charge for the treatment of their TB until treatment is complete.

Tuberculosis

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward legislation to amend public health law to permit the detention of individuals who have infectious TB and refuse to comply with prescribed treatment.

Jane Ellison: The Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 enables local authorities to apply to a justice of the peace (JP) for an order to detain an individual with an infectious disease that might pose a risk to human health (including tuberculosis) in hospital or another suitable establishment. In making such an order, the JP must be satisfied that the following criteria are met:
	the individual is or may be infected;
	the infection is one which presents or could present significant harm to human health;
	there is a risk that the individual might infect others; and
	it is necessary to make the order to remove or reduce that risk.
	In 2010-11 and 2011-12, the periods for which information is currently available, there were 13 such orders made in relation to individuals with tuberculosis in England.

Vaccination

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will meet patients' families before taking a decision on a meningococcal B meningitis and septicaemia vaccination programme.

Jane Ellison: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), and my predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry), met the hon. Member and the national meningitis charities, which represent patients' interests, on 4 September 2013, to discuss meningococcal B (MenB) vaccination.
	The charities also responded to the consultation on the interim position statement from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation about use of the MenB vaccine, Bexsero®.
	We will consider any requests for meetings from patients' families affected by MenB carefully.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Contempt of Court: Social Networking

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Attorney-General what steps his Department has taken to raise awareness of misuse of social media in relation to contempt of court.

Oliver Heald: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Attorney-General, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr Grieve), on 7 January 2014, to an oral question from the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Robert Flello), Official Report, columns 171-2).

Crown Prosecution Service

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many pre-charging decisions were taken by the Crown Prosecution Service in (a) rape-flagged cases, (b) domestic violence-flagged cases and (c) cases of child abuse in each financial year from 1999-2000 to 2008-09.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of suspects, by way of monitoring flags, referred to prosecutors for a pre-charge decision, in cases of rape, domestic violence and child abuse, since statutory charging was fully rolled out across England and Wales in April 2006.
	The following table shows, during the three financial years from April 2006, the number of cases in which the CPS made a pre-charge decision in cases flagged as rape, domestic violence and child abuse.
	
		
			  (a) Rape (b) Domestic violence (c) Child abuse 
			 2006-07 6,590 66,639 11,485 
			 2007-08 5,722 74,065 11,542 
			 2008-09 6,597 80,423 11,094

Domestic Violence and Rape

Helen Jones: To ask the Attorney-General when he last met the Secretary of State for the Home Department to discuss changes in the number of domestic violence and rape cases being referred by the police to the Crown Prosecution Service; and what action followed those meetings.

Oliver Heald: Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a key priority for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and, in 2012-13, the conviction rates for cases flagged as domestic violence and rape were at record highs for the second year running.
	On 11 December 2013, the Director of Public Prosecutions and I attended the Inter-Ministerial Group meeting on VAWG, chaired by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), and the Minister of State for Crime Prevention, which discussed the falling numbers of referrals of domestic violence and rape from the police to the CPS.
	The Inter-Ministerial Group on VAWG requested a further update in 2014 on progress against the six-point action plan outlined by me in a written parliamentary answer to the hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry) on 22 October 2013, Official Report, column 141W.

Fraud: Convictions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General pursuant to the answer of 29 October 2013, Official Report, column 398W, on fraud: prosecutions, what assessment he has made of the likely causes of the 12 per cent reduction in the Crown Prosecution Service’s conviction rate in contested fraud cases between 2008-09 and 2012-13.

Oliver Heald: During the five-year period in question, the number of prosecutions conducted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for offences of fraud and forgery increased significantly from 14,353 to 18,555. This increase of 29.3% was brought about as a result of the mergers with the Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office and the Welfare, Rural and Health Prosecution Agencies. The mergers changed the nature and mixture of offending types prosecuted. Only 9.5% of prosecutions in 2012-13 resulted in a contest and overall the conviction rate at 86.5% is high for fraud and forgery cases, given the complex and challenging nature of such proceedings. The number of convictions in contested cases has increased although the conviction rate in contested cases has reduced.

Serious Fraud Office

John Spellar: To ask the Attorney-General what further steps he will take to recover payments made to former senior staff at the Serious Fraud Office that were not properly authorised.

Dominic Grieve: I have explained the legal position regarding these payments before, including on 8 January 2013, Official Report, column 152.
	However, following the hearing of the Public Accounts Committee in March last year, the Director of the Serious Fraud Office, David Green CB QC, did write to the individuals who had received ex gratia payments and asked them to pay back the money.

Treason Felony Act 1848

Julian Huppert: To ask the Attorney-General 
	(1)  how many people have been prosecuted under section 3 of the Treason Felony Act 1848 in the last 30 years;
	(2)  how many people have been charged with an offence under section 3 of the Treason Felony Act 1848 in the last 30 years.

Oliver Heald: I am not aware of any individuals being charged or prosecuted under section 3 of the Treason Felony Act 1848 during the last 30 years.

Witnesses: Protection

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many complaints about standards of witness care the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) received in each of the last five years; and what proportion of all complaints received by the CPS these constituted.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) currently categorises complaints on the following basis: legal decision making, mixed (legal and non-legal decision making) and non-legal decision making. Information is not currently held on complaints made about the standards of witness care within the last five years and the proportion of complaints that this constitutes.

PRIME MINISTER

Meetings

Keith Vaz: To ask the Prime Minister when he last had discussions with (a) Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta and (b) Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski.

David Cameron: I attended the European Council on 19-20 December 2013 at which Prime Minister Ponta and Prime Minister Oresharski were present. Discussions were held on: defence issues; economic and monetary union issues; and EU enlargement and association agreements.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Armed Forces: Foreign Nationals

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make it her policy that Commonwealth citizens serving in HM armed forces and their families can include within their five-year qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain the time when they have been deployed overseas.

Mark Harper: Foreign and Commonwealth members of HM Forces may qualify for indefinite leave to enter or remain on discharge if they have completed at least four years' service and meet the other requirements of the rules.
	Under the new Armed Forces Rules, which came into force on 1 December 2013, partners of members of HM Forces can qualify for indefinite leave to enter or remain after they have completed a continuous period of five years with limited leave in this capacity.
	In both cases, time spent deployed overseas or accompanying their sponsor on an overseas posting is treated as time spent in the UK.

Asylum: Deportation

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department’s policy on the removal of asylum seekers permits deportation to countries assessed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as being under a volatile threat from a number of terrorist organisations.

Mark Harper: Asylum applications are considered on their individual merits in the light of up-to-date country information, including evidence of any threat to the individual from terrorist organisations. No one will be required to return to a country where they would be at real risk of serious harm. Country information comes from a number of reliable sources, including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
	For those whose asylum applications have been rejected and who have exhausted all avenues of appeal, the Home Office’s first and preferred option is for those who have no legal basis to remain in the UK to leave voluntarily and we offer assistance to those who choose to do so.
	Generally, there are no countries to which as a matter of immigration policy, we cannot remove those who have no legal basis to remain in the UK.

Counter-terrorism

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the resources allocated to the Metropolitan Police is spent on tackling terrorism.

James Brokenshire: It is long-established policy that information on how counter-terrorism funding is allocated between police forces is not disclosed for national security reasons.

Domestic Violence

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many incidents of domestic abuse were reported in England and Wales for the latest year for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many incidents of domestic abuse were found to have occurred in England and Wales in the latest year for which figures are available;
	(3)  how many allegations of domestic abuse in England and Wales (a) were investigated by the police and (b) resulted in an individual being charged in the latest year for which figures are available;
	(4)  what advice has been issued by her Department to police services in England and Wales in respect of how to investigate complaints of domestic abuse;
	(5)  how many call outs there were per police force in England and Wales following complaints of domestic abuse in the latest year for which figures are available;
	(6)  what estimate she has made of the number of repeat victims of domestic abuse in England and Wales by the same perpetrator;
	(7)  what was the number of (a) prosecutions for domestic abuse, (b) commencement of trials in matters relating to domestic abuse, (c) findings of guilty in matters relating to domestic abuse and (d) findings of not guilty in matters connected with domestic abuse in England and Wales in the latest year for which figures are available;
	(8)  what was the number of reported cases of domestic abuse that were discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales in the latest year for which figures are available.

Norman Baker: The College of Policing is working with police forces, partners, women's sector organisations, and academics to support the development of training to improve the police response to domestic violence and abuse. The College of Policing will also be launching a Public Protection Learning Programme exploring best practice in tackling domestic abuse.
	The Government is committed to ensuring that the police successfully tackle domestic violence and abuse, to bring offenders to justice and to ensure victims have the support they need to rebuild their lives. That is why a review by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary has been commissioned to look at the police response. The review will look at the performance of forces across England and Wales, identify where improvements need to be made and report back to the Home Office in April 2014.
	The Home Office receives data from the police on the number of domestic abuse incidents they have recorded. The latest published data relating to 2011-12 are given in Table A.
	For the given data, domestic abuse incidents are defined as
	'any incidence of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between adults, aged 18 and over, who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality'.
	This collection, which is wider than physical abuse, will therefore include incidents that are not subsequently recorded as crimes, in that no crime as defined in law has taken place.
	The police record domestic abuse incidents in accordance with the National Standard for Incident Recording. While incidents are recorded in accordance with the same 'victim focused' approach that applies for recorded crime, these figures are not accredited National Statistics and are not subject to the same level of quality assurance as the main recorded crime collection. The Home Office does not collect data from police forces on how many domestic abuse incidents were reported to the police, how many 'call outs' there have been for domestic abuse or how many allegations of domestic abuse the police have investigated.
	Additional information on domestic abuse is available from the Crime Survey for England and Wales. This provides an estimate of how many victims of domestic abuse there were in the last year but not the number of incidents. According to the 2010-11 survey, 30% of the victims of partner abuse were victimised more than once in the last year (22% were victimised three or more times). However, as around a half (51%) of victims either chose not to answer this question or did not know how many times they had been victimised, this should be treated with caution.
	Information on domestic abuse as measured by the survey can be found in the Office for National Statistics publication ‘Focus on Violent Crime and Sexual Offences, 2011/12’
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/focus-on-violent-crime/stb-focus-on--violent-crime-and-sexual-offences-2011-12.html
	Data for 2012-13 for both domestic abuse incidents recorded by the police and CSEW domestic abuse are due to be published in February 2014.
	Information has been supplied to the Home Office from the Crown Prosecution Service relating to domestic abuse for the number of (a) prosecutions (b) contested commencement of trials (termed ‘contested proceedings’ in the Table), (c) total convictions and (d) those not convicted for England and Wales in 2012-13. Information has also been supplied on how many reported cases of domestic violence were discontinued (termed ‘prosecutions dropped’ in the Table) in 2012-13. These data are given in Table B and are based on the number of offenders rather than then number of offences.
	
		
			 Table A: Number of domestic abuse1 incidents recorded by the police, by police force area, English regions and Wales, 2011-12 
			 Police force area Police incidents 
			 Cleveland 14,883 
			 Durham 13,330 
			 Northumbria 27,406 
			 North East Region 55,619 
			   
			 Cheshire 4,186 
			 Cumbria 6,422 
			 Greater Manchester 47,496 
			 Lancashire 29,465 
			 Merseyside 32,511 
			 North West Region 120,080 
			   
			 Humberside 17,014 
			 North Yorkshire 7,336 
			 South Yorkshire 24,079 
			 West Yorkshire 36,725 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Region 85,154 
			   
			 Derbyshire 14,797 
			 Leicestershire 17,172 
			 Lincolnshire 8,762 
			 Northamptonshire 11,898 
			 Nottinghamshire 5,532 
			 East Midlands Region 58,161 
			   
			 Staffordshire 16,457 
			 Warwickshire 7,805 
			 West Mercia 16,523 
			 West Midlands 30,137 
			 West Midlands Region 70,922 
			   
			 Bedfordshire 8,250 
			 Cambridgeshire 11,249 
			 Essex 26,876 
			 Hertfordshire 12,644 
			 Norfolk 9,878 
			 Suffolk 7,471 
			 East of England Region 76,368 
			   
			 London, City of2 90 
			 Metropolitan Police 118,079 
			 London Region2 118,169 
			   
			 Hampshire 24,206 
			 Kent 22,509 
			 Surrey 11,755 
			 Sussex 16,732 
			 Thames Valley 32,715 
			 South East Region 107,917 
			   
			 Avon and Somerset 15,356 
			 Devon and Cornwall 25,521 
			 Dorset 7,425 
			 Gloucestershire n/a 
			 Wiltshire 4,413 
			 South West Region 52,715 
			   
			 Dyfed-Powys 2,325 
			 Gwent 8,948 
		
	
	
		
			 North Wales 12,901 
			 South Wales 27,656 
			 Wales 51,830 
			   
			 England and Wales 796,935 
			 n/a= Not available 1 Domestic abuse incidents are defined as any incidence of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between adults, aged 18 and over, who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality. 2 Data for London Region includes the City of London. Source: Police incident data, Home Office 
		
	
	
		
			 Table B: Number of offenders1 relating to domestic abuse offences; charged, prosecuted, convicted and dropped proceedings, England and Wales, 2012-13 
			 England and Wales Number of offenders 
			 Charged 56,878 
			 Prosecutions2 70,702 
			 Prosecutions Dropped3 14,073 
			 Contested proceedings4 7,571 
			 Total Convictions5 52,549 
			 Not convicted6 18,153 
			 1 The counting unit for CPS prosecution records is the defendant in a case, as opposed to the number of offences, or the number of cases. It follows that an outcome of a prosecution is recorded for each defendant. 2 Prosecutions figure is larger than the number charged due to differing time periods (a person may be charged in a earlier year to the one they are prosecuted in) and because cases can be flagged as domestic abuse after initial charge. 3 Prosecutions dropped are those proceedings where the CPS has discontinued, withdrawn, offered no evidence or the prosecution or indictment has been stayed and where all charges lie on file. 4 Contested proceedings are those proceedings those cases that are sent to trial. 5 Convictions comprise guilty pleas, convictions after trial and proceedings which are proved in absence. 6 Unsuccessful Outcomes comprise prosecutions dropped, administrative finalisations, discharged committals and cases acquitted or dismissed following a contested hearing. Source: Crown Prosecution Service

Drugs: Misuse

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 3 December 2013, Official Report, column 596W, on drugs: misuse, what the outcome was of the discussions on control of new psychoactive substances at the Horizontal Drugs Group on 9 to 10 December 2013.

Norman Baker: Discussions on the European Union Commission's proposals to tackle the emergence of new psychoactive substances are still ongoing. Parliament will be updated on the outcomes in due course.

Extradition

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were extradited (a) to and (b) from the UK under a European arrest warrant in each of the last three years; and how many such people were accused of sexual offences.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 8 January 2014
	I have been informed by the National Crime Agency (NCA) that the following number of people were extradited to/from the UK under a European Arrest Warrant (EAW):
	
		
			  2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Extradited to the UK 130 144 123 
			 Child sex offences 17 20 13 
			 Rape 3 5 12 
			     
			 Extradited from the UK 1,100 1,076 1,057 
			 Child sex offences 14 17 8 
			 Rape 22 19 18

Extradition: Republic of Ireland

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for extradition warrants from the Republic of Ireland have been made by her Department from 2005 to date.

James Brokenshire: The European arrest warrant (EAW) scheme is managed by the National Crime Agency (NCA); although policy oversight is the responsibility of Home Office Ministers. The NCA are responsible for transmitting EAWs to another member state, and I have been informed by them that as EAW requests are often sent to more than one EU member state simultaneously, it is not possible from current systems to provide totals for requests made to a single member state.
	The NCA have advised, however, that the number of people arrested in the Republic of Ireland, and surrendered to the UK, pursuant to an EAW issued by the UK is:
	
		
			  Arrests Surrenders 
			 2009-10 29 24 
			 2010-11 30 22 
			 2011-12 18 20 
			 2012-13 31 24 
		
	
	Due to the way data were recorded prior to 1 April 2009, it is not possible to provide details of the number of applications for EAWs to the Republic of Ireland prior to this period.

Firearms

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had with (a) the Countryside Alliance and (b) the British Association of Shooting and Conservation on proposed changes to legislation on firearms.

Norman Baker: There have not been any recent discussions between the Home Secretary and the Countryside Alliance or the British Association of Shooting and Conservation on proposed changes to legislation on firearms. However, Home Office officials routinely consult stakeholders, including both these organisations, on firearms related matters.

G4S

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total amount her Department has paid to date to G4S for services provided in relation to the Terrorism Prevention and Investigative Measures regime; and whether her Department's contract with G4S includes performance-related incentives.

James Brokenshire: Electronic monitoring of terrorism prevention and investigation measures (TPIM) subjects is provided and paid for through the Ministry of Justice's contract with G4S. However, the specific information requested relating to the amount that has been paid to G4S for services provided in relation to the TPIM regime, and details of the terms of the contract, are commercially confidential. The Government are obliged to treat this information as confidential and to disclose it would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of both the Government and the companies with whom they enters into contracts.

Human Trafficking

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many identified victims of human trafficking who did not participate in criminal proceedings were granted discretionary leave to remain in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012 on the grounds of personal circumstances; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Harper: In 2011, there were 28 identified victims of human trafficking who did not participate in criminal proceedings and were granted discretionary leave (DL) on the grounds of personal circumstances. In 2012 there were 18 cases.
	The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), will not make a statement.

Human Trafficking Ministerial Group

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what dates since 2010 the Interdepartmental Ministerial Group on human trafficking has met.

James Brokenshire: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 28 November 2013, Official Report, column 393W.

Illegal Immigrants

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the role of (a) existing and (b) new airport infrastructure in combating illegal immigration by reducing the risk of landside transfers; and what recent representations she has made to the Airports Commission on this matter.

Mark Harper: The Home Office works closely with operators in the design of control arrangements at airports, including those for transfer passengers.
	Immigration arrangements for transfer passengers are kept under review in light of changing risks. The Department has made no representations to the Airports Commission on this matter.

Immigration

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff have been employed by her Department and its agencies for the purposes of immigration enforcement in each year since 2008.

Mark Harper: Before 1 April 2013 the UK Border Agency fulfilled a range of operational immigration functions including immigration enforcement. Individuals working in the Agency may have had multiple roles covering different operational functions therefore we are unable to identify the number of people employed to undertake immigration enforcement activities. Since 1 April 2013 the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), created the Immigration Enforcement Directorate with the primary aim of enforcing immigration laws, the size of this directorate as at 30 September 2013 was 4,320.

Immigration

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of Romanians and Bulgarians who have entered the UK since 1 January 2014.

Mark Harper: Statistics will be published in the normal way by the Office of National Statistics and the Department for Work and Pensions. The first statistics covering the period after the expiry of transitional controls will be published in May 2014.
	The first national data release which will provide information on Romanian and Bulgarian nationals in employment in the UK after the lifting of transitional controls will be the quarterly Labour Force Survey. This is scheduled for publication on 14 May and released by the Office for National Statistics at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/index.html
	This release will include employment numbers and rates by nationality and country of birth, covering the period January to March 2014.
	On 22 May, the Department for Work and Pensions will publish statistics for national insurance number allocations to foreign nationals for the first quarter of 2014 available from:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions
	The Office for National Statistics also publish their Migration Statistics Quarterly Report at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/migration1/migration-statistics-quarterly-report/index.html
	The release on 28 August 2014 will include provisional estimates of long-term international migration for the year ending March 2014, including estimates for the European Union.

Interpol

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 16 December 2013, Official Report, column 394-5W, on Interpol, what estimate she has made of the amount of police time spent implementing Interpol Red Notices in the UK in 2012 and 2013.

James Brokenshire: I have been advised by the UK Interpol National Central Bureau, which is situated within the National Crime Agency, that they do not hold this information and that it can be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to reply to the letter to the Secretary of State for Transport dated 19 November 2013 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Inspector Damian O'Reilly, transferred from the Secretary of State for Transport.

Norman Baker: I wrote to the Rt. Hon. Member on 13 January 2014. A response to Sir Gerald's letter has been sent today.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to reply to the letter to her dated 25 November 2013 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr Thomas Kaplanidis.

Mark Harper: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 9 January 2014.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to reply to the letter to her dated 16 December 2013 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ather Mirza.

Mark Harper: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 9 January 2014.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to reply to the letters to her dated 20 November and 10 December 2013 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Ather Mirza.

Mark Harper: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 9 January 2014.

Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department further to her ministerial correction of 6 November 2013, Official Report, column 2MC, on Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed, whether the authorities responsible for Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed had ever taken possession of his British passport.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 6 January 2014
	Mohamed was issued with a British passport on 28 April 2005. As explained during Charles Farr's evidence to the Home Affairs Committee on 12 November 2013, when Mohamed was deported to the UK from Somaliland in 2011, Mohamed did not have this passport with him.

Offenders: Deportation

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements exist for the deportation of prisoners to Ukraine.

Mark Harper: Foreign national offenders who are from Ukraine will be considered for deportation if they meet the following criteria:
	A custodial sentence of 12 months or more either in one sentence or as an aggregate of two or three sentences over a period of five years, or a custodial sentence of any length for a drug offence (other than possession).
	A court recommendation (only for those over 17 years of age).

Police and Crime Commissioners

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of full IT costs within the budget of Police and Crime Commissioners is being recovered from their budgets.

Damian Green: The total amount charged by the Home Office in respect of national police IT services in 2013-14 is £61.1 million. The police and crime commissioners now have financial control over police budgets and we are, therefore, unable to say what proportion of their individual IT budgets will be taken up by these charges. This will vary from force to force in accordance with local spending decisions.

Police and Crime Commissioners

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total cost of IT services provided to Police and Crime Commissioners is; and what level of public subsidy is applied to such services.

Damian Green: The Home Office's total resource expenditure on police IT in 2013-14 is forecast at £94.79 million. The total charges levied on all recipients of these services is £79.1 million, of which £61.1 million will be charged to police and crime commissioners. The charges for these services will increase in 2014-15 as the next step in the move to full cost recovery.

Work Permits: Eastern Europe

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK work permits have been (a) issued and (b) refused since May 2010 to (a) Bulgarian and (b) Romanian nationals.

Mark Harper: holding answer 28 November 2013
	Under the Accession (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2006, which were in force up to 31 December 2013, Bulgarian and Romanian nationals requiring authorisation to work in the UK must apply for an accession worker card. The number of applications for accession worker cards, and the proportion of those applications which have not been approved, are published quarterly as part of the Control of Immigration statistics. The numbers for between April 2010 and June 2013 are as follows:
	
		
			 Country of nationality Accession worker card applications received Accession worker card applications approved Accession worker card applications not approved (%) 
			 Bulgaria 2,822 2,279 19 
			 Romania 6,658 4,861 27 
			 Total 9,480 7,140 25 
		
	
	For the majority of categories of employment set out in Schedule 1 of the Regulations, an employer first has to obtain Home Office approval to employ a Bulgarian or Romanian national. The number of applications from employers approved and refused, between May 2010 and June 2013, is as follows:
	
		
			 Country of nationality Approved Refused Proportion refused (%) 
			 Bulgaria 2,589 287 10 
			 Romania 3,318 696 17 
			 Total 5907 983 14

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Pensions

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces widows who receive a pension through the Armed Forces Scheme 1975 have voluntarily surrendered their pensions on remarriage or cohabitation in 2013.

Anna Soubry: The information for 2013 will take time to collate. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as it is available.

Armed Forces: Vehicles

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the uncommitted budget for land vehicles in the Defence Equipment Plan 2012 was spent on incorporating the 2,000 land vehicles acquired under urgent operational requirements into the core equipment programme.

Philip Dunne: There was no allocation in the Defence Equipment Plan 2012 for incorporating Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) vehicles into the core equipment programme.

Army

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress his Department has made towards Army 2020; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: Since the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), announced the outcome of the study conducted into Army 2020 on 5 July 2012, Official Report, column 1085, significant progress has been made. The proposition as set out in the study report has been refined and units have now been assigned to the new Reaction Force, Adaptable Force or Force Troops and their roles, the equipment they will hold and the new training requirements have been determined. In addition, Regular and Reserve units have been paired, in line with the move to a fully integrated Army, and future unit locations have been confirmed, taking account of the return of units from Germany to the UK. All this information is set out in the document ‘Transforming the British Army—An Update', a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House.
	Transition to these new structures is now under way. Headquarters Force Troops Command has formed in its new role and Headquarters 1 (UK) Div and 3 (UK) Div will commence their new roles from autumn 2014; units will enter the new annual training cycle from 1 January 2015; and all major changes to structures are expected to be complete by mid-2015.

Army

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress his Department has made on re-basing; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Murrison: The Ministry of Defence continues to make good progress delivering the Regular Army Basing Plan.
	Early unit moves which are not dependent upon infrastructure construction have now begun, with eight unit moves taking place in 2013 and a further 23 unit moves planned for 2014. Work is progressing well and the timelines announced by the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), in his statement on 5 March 2013, Official Report, columns 845-8) for the rebasing from Germany remain extant.
	An update will be provided to the House later this year.

Burma

David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department has made of the risk of Burmese army soldiers who receive training from the UK using the skills and experience gained to undermine the human rights of civilians in Burma.

Mark Francois: Courses that we might currently offer to the Burmese military will address the core principles of democratic accountability. Such courses include an examination of the legal frameworks by which defence and security operations are legitimised and controlled in line with international human rights and humanitarian law.

Defence

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to deter threats overseas to UK interests.

Andrew Murrison: I refer my right hon. Friend to the written evidence submitted by the Ministry of Defence to the House of Commons Defence Committee's ongoing inquiry into “Deterrence in the 21st Century” which is available at the following link:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmdfence/writev/deterrence/dic1.htm
	The deterrence of threats to the UK's security, influence and prosperity is the primary peacetime role of the armed forces. On a routine basis, the armed forces work closely with other instruments of national power, and with allies and partners, to deter a wide range of threats to UK interests, at home and abroad.

Defence

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress his Department has made on defence engagement; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Murrison: The Ministry of Defence has made good progress implementing the International Defence Engagement Strategy (IDES) published on 7 February 2013.
	In Burma, Thailand and Vietnam we have established Defence Sections and have accredited Defence Attachés (DA). Our DA in Libya is now in place and with an expanded Defence Assistance and Training Team are providing significant support to developing their security. Our new defence section in Somalia is playing a key role in supporting the co-ordination of international efforts to enable African Union and Somali National Security Forces to maintain control and provide a safe and secure environment. Recently we saw the utility of Defence Engagement activities when we rapidly redeployed HMS Daring to the Philippines. We have also endorsed a number of regional Defence Engagement strategies which are being taken forward by our overseas posts. Additionally the statement highlighted an Army initiative to align Brigades regionally to deliver better effect. The proof of concept for this initiative is progressing well.
	The IDES set out to enable better cross-Government co-ordination and we have made good progress. Defence engagement is now providing strong support to wider Government policy objectives including our Prosperity and Security agendas. The joint governance we put in place with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office demonstrated by the establishment of the Defence Engagement Board is working well and enables us to make better balanced decisions about where to engage and why.

Defence: Procurement

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the professional competence of CH2M Hill and Bechtel; and what experience those companies have in defence procurement.

Philip Dunne: As with all defence procurements, we followed a rigorous commercial process to determine the bidders that would be issued with the Invitation To Negotiate for the Materiel Strategy commercial competition. Both the CH2M Hill consortium and the Bechtel bid team successfully demonstrated that they had the professional competence required to undertake this work.

France

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress is being made on the formation of a combined joint expeditionary force with the French; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: Good progress is being made to establish a combined joint expeditionary force (CJEF) capability that meets the level of ambition described in the Lancaster House treaty. Exercises over the past three years, in particular the annual flagship exercises, have led to significant levels of integration and interoperability. Both sides are now working on the development of command and control and logistic structures that will enable the UK and France to conduct Combined Joint Operations. A series of intensive exercises in 2015 and 2016 will test and validate these structures, which are on track to achieve, as planned, in 2016. The framework that is being developed will enable UK and French forces to deploy more rapidly in the event of a crisis, with greater capability than might be achieved individually.

Gosport

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  when the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology last visited Gosport; and when he next plans to visit;
	(2)  when the Minister for International Security Strategy last visited Gosport; and when he next plans to visit.

Andrew Murrison: Neither I nor my colleague the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, my hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Mr Dunne), has visited Gosport since assuming our responsibilities.
	My colleague and I have no firm plans to visit Gosport at this time. However, Defence Ministers routinely undertake regional visits in the course of their duties and are always happy to consider invitations from hon. Members.

ICT

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of small and medium-sized enterprises recommended by the Network Technical Authority for the G-cloud route to market have been granted access by his Department.

Philip Dunne: The G-Cloud framework is managed by the Cabinet Office Crown Commercial Services Information and Communications Technology Category Team which is responsible for the selection of suppliers included on the framework. As such, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Network Technical Authority does not approve contractors prior to their being placed on the G-Cloud framework. Therefore, this information is not held centrally by the MOD and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, under the Government Transparency agenda, the Cabinet Office publishes data online about G-Cloud sales on a monthly basis via the following link. Details of contracts placed by the MOD through the G-Cloud framework that fall within the Transparency Agenda are included in these data.
	http://gcloud.civilservice.gov.uk/about/sales-information/

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the flight time and combat range is for a fully armed F35B.

Philip Dunne: The combat radius of the F-35B is 450 nautical miles with a representative weapon fit. Flight time and range will depend on the type of mission and munitions carried, but average sortie lengths are expected to be around two hours.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how the F35B will be refuelled from the air when carrier-based and operating away from UK shore; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: The F-35B will be able to conduct air to air refuelling activity with in-service UK strategic air refuelling assets, whether embarked on the Queen Elizabeth Class Carrier or operating from land. Additionally, UK aircraft will be able to utilise Partner Nations' air refuelling assets which have been cleared by the F-35 Programme.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the fourth Joint Strike Fighter will be delivered.

Philip Dunne: The UK's fourth F-35B aircraft is scheduled to be delivered in 2015.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the four F-35 Joint Strike Fighters purchased thus far will form a part of the 48 ordered to date.

Philip Dunne: The UK has ordered four F-35B Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and taken delivery of three of these to date. These four aircraft will form a part of the final acquisition total.

Military Bases: Aldershot

Dave Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the value of the regimental site in Aldershot.

Andrew Murrison: It is not clear from the hon. Member's question to which site he is referring. However, the market value of Ministry of Defence property is assessed only when it comes up for disposal.
	Where pre-sale valuations have been obtained, these are regarded as commercially confidential and are thus not released ahead of the sale in case they influence the market.
	Details of Ministry of Defence land holdings with asset valuation over £1 million can be found in chapter 7 of the National Asset Register, last published by HM Treasury in 2007, at the following link:
	http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm70/7022/7022.pdf

Ministry of Defence Guard Service

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what methodology his Department uses to calculate savings to the public purse from removing the MOD Guard Service personnel from some military sites.

Anna Soubry: The savings were calculated by assessing the capitation costs of the Ministry of Defence Guard Service (MGS) guards being removed and subtracting the cost of additional Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS) personnel needed to carry out the relevant security duties at a small number of the sites affected. At the remainder of the sites, existing MPGS posts or regular service personnel were able to cover the required duties at no extra capitation cost to Defence. The overall annual saving was calculated to be £36.7 million.

NATO

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the Government's agenda is for NATO reform; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Murrison: Our agenda for NATO reform is to ensure the Alliance, as the bedrock of UK defence, continues to adapt and change to be able to address the security challenges of the future. This is an issue in which the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), has taken an active interest, raising the subject at NATO Defence Ministerials and in discussions with the Secretary General. The UK focus has been on delivering the reform programmes already agreed by allies (for example, the NATO military command and financial reform) and improving overall governance and accountability. The UK, working with like-minded allies, will continue to emphasise the importance of NATO reform as we seek to ensure the organisation remains effective. The Prime Minister's decision to host the NATO summit in the UK in September is clear evidence of this commitment.

Piracy

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his Department's plans are for continuing anti-piracy patrols off the coast of Somalia and in the Indian Ocean.

Mark Francois: The UK participates in three international counter-piracy operations. The EU NAVFOR's Operation Atalanta, and NATO's Operation Ocean Shield both operate off the coast of Somalia, whilst the multinational Combined Maritime Task Force 151 operates both in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden.
	The Ministry of Defence provides the headquarters in Northwood for Operation Atalanta, along with an Operational Commander from the Royal Navy. There are also regular commitments of Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships to the operation, the last of which was RFA Lyme Bay in November 2013. The Royal Navy intends to provide further support during 2014. Currently the mandate for the operation expires in 2014.
	Operational control of Ocean Shield is conducted by the NATO Maritime Component Command based at Northwood, and UK ships participate in the mission on an opportunity basis. The current mandate for the operation expires at the end of 2014.
	The UK provides a one-star commander and a ship to the US-led Combined Maritime Force 151 based in Bahrain, on an enduring basis. The task force conducts counter-piracy operations as part of its maritime security role.

Procurement

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department is taking to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises can bid for procurement contracts without being subcontractors for larger companies.

Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) set out its commitment to improving engagement with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the 'National Security Through Technology' White Paper (CM 8278) published in February 2012, which details a range of measures aimed at increasing the value of defence business going to SMEs. In financial year 2012-13 at least 12,000 SMEs were direct suppliers to the MOD and many more were active as subcontractors within the supply chain.
	The practical steps we are taking to facilitate access to MOD business by SMEs include standardising and simplifying our procurement systems. We have also increased the level of direct access that SMEs have to the MOD through, for example, the Defence Supplier SME Forum, which I chair. This gives SMEs an opportunity to raise issues and ask questions directly of Ministers and senior MOD officials.
	Progress on these and our other SME initiatives is regularly monitored and published in the MOD SME Action plan, which can be accessed at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defence-business-plan-small-and-medium-sized-enterprises

Public Expenditure

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on (a) consultants and (b) agency staff in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and what estimate he has made of such spending in 2013-14.

Anna Soubry: holding answer 9 December 2013
	Information on expenditure on External Assistance by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the three Executive Defence Agencies is published in the 2013 Departmental Resources Report which is available at the following link:
	http://www.dasa.mod.uk/publications/finance-and-economics/departmental-resources/2013/2013.pdf
	The expenditure covers a range of contracted support, including management consultancy and other specialised services such as legal, accountancy, IT and estates advice and both military and civilian training.
	Expenditure on agency staff by the MOD and the Executive Defence Agencies has been £36 million in 2010-11, £34 million in 2011-12 and £49 million in 2012-13. Expenditure to date in 2013-14 has totalled some £46 million.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Pensions

Gemma Doyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions at what level the Government plans to set the pensions price cap.

Steve Webb: We have consulted on whether to cap charges in the default funds of schemes used for automatic enrolment. As a part of this, we looked at three possibilities: a 1% cap, a 0.75% cap and a comply-or-explain cap that combined both of these levels.
	We received 166 written responses to this consultation and are now analysing this evidence. These findings will be used to inform the design for any future cap including it’s level, and a decision will be announced in due course.

Benefits

Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the extent to which the benefit cap has helped people return to work.

Esther McVey: It is my strong belief that there is a connection between the benefit cap and getting people into work.
	Poll findings show that of those notified or aware that they would be affected by the cap, three in 10 took action to find work.
	To date, almost 36,000 have accepted help to move into work from Jobcentre Plus and around 19,000 potentially capped claimants have moved into work.

Attendance Allowance

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of new applications for attendance allowance were made online in (a) England, (b) Cumbria and (c) Barrow and Furness constituency in the last 12 months.

Michael Penning: The information is in the following table.
	
		
			 Attendance allowance new applications made online between January 2013 and December 2013 
			 Geography Claims made 
			 Barrow and Furness Constituency 6 
			 Cumbria 43 
			 England 5,403 
		
	
	Data on the total number of attendance allowance new applications made are not available at geographies below national level. Therefore it is not possible to provide information on the proportions of applications made online.

Disability Living Allowance

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the refusal in the Court of Appeal on appeal from the upper tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber) on 23 October 2013, of his appeal against the decision made by the Upper Tribunal in CDLA/0735/2009, when disabled claimants entitled to receive the care component of disability living allowance following moves to other EU countries may now expect to receive these payments.

Michael Penning: We are considering the judgment made by the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) in case CDLA/0735/2009 and its implications and have decided to apply for permission to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court. While this consideration is taking place we will not implement the Upper Tribunal's decision in accordance with section 21(2) (c) of the Social Security Act 1998.
	That position has been communicated to the other party in the case and it has been explained that we have exercised our power to suspend payment of benefit.
	Decisions on similar cases involving the application of Regulation (EC)1408/71 are currently deferred under statutory powers in section 25 (5) (c) of the Social Security Act 1998 and Regulation 21 (4) (a) of the Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 1999.

Employment and Support Allowance

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many mandatory reconsiderations of employment and support allowance (ESA) have been carried out since the introduction of such reconsiderations; how many of those reconsiderations resulted in the reinstatement of the claimant's ESA; how many went to appeal; and how many appeals resulted in the reinstatement of the claimant's ESA.

Michael Penning: Individual level data on mandatory reconsiderations of ESA are not available, so it is not possible to provide the information requested.

Employment and Support Allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answers of 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 758W, on jobseeker's allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber and 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 756W, on employment and support allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber, 
	(1)  how many people living in Yorkshire and the Humber receiving employment and support allowance were moved from the support group to the work-related group; and of those how many appealed that decision and of those appealing how many were (a) moved back to the support group as a consequence of the appeal, (b) not moved back to the support group as a consequence of the appeal and (c) still awaiting their appeal decision in October 2012 and each month since then;
	(2)  how many people living in Yorkshire and the Humber receiving employment and support allowance were moved from the support group to the work-related group; and of those how many sought a review of that decision and of those seeking a review how many were (a) moved back to the support group as a consequence of the review, (b) not moved back to the support group as a consequence of the review and (c) still awaiting the decision on their request for review in October 2012 and each month since then;
	(3)  how many people living in Yorkshire and the Humber receiving employment and support allowance were moved (a) from the support group to the work-related group and (b) from the work-related group to the support group in October 2012 and each month since then.

Esther McVey: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 9 January 2014, Official Report, columns 280-81W.

Employment: Disability

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many disabled people declared fit for work in the last year died in the following three months.

Michael Penning: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Employment: Parents

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what provisions are in place to support the parents of disabled children in finding access to work.

Michael Penning: Jobcentre Plus advisers offer a variety of support to all claimants, including parents of disabled children, which is tailored to individuals at the most appropriate point in their claim. This includes help with job search, careers advice, boosting literacy, numeracy and language skills, other skills training, work experience and setting up a business.
	There is financial help through the flexible support fund for child care costs to enable parents to carry out work-related activities or to manage the transition to work.
	Once in work, tax credits and universal credit can provide assistance for parents with child care costs. Parents with disabled children under 18 can also request flexible working; they can make an agreement with their employer to work in a way that best fits their other responsibilities while also ensuring that the job gets done.

Food Banks

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of figures recently released by the Trussell Trust on the use of food banks in the UK;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 2 September 2013, Official Report, column 235W, on food banks, whether his Department has seen any evidence linking welfare reforms to the increased use of food banks.

Esther McVey: The Government do not monitor the use of food banks and have no plans to do so. We have seen no robust evidence linking welfare reforms to the increased use of food banks.

Housing Benefit

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects his Department to announce its discretionary housing payment allocations for 2014-15.

Steve Webb: We are currently consulting with Local Authority Associations on the distribution of next year's DHP funding. Following this we intend to publish details of individual local authority allocations in February.

Housing Benefit: Private Rented Housing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households in private rented accommodation currently claim housing support (a) below the maximum they would be entitled to according to their local housing allowance (LHA) entitlement, (b) at the maximum level of their LHA entitlement and (c) above the maximum they are entitled to according to their LHA entitlement.

Steve Webb: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what the cost to his Department is of appeals against the under-occupancy penalty based on Schedule 3 to the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2006;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department in the next financial year of appeals against the under-occupancy penalty based on Schedule 3 to the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2006;
	(3)  how many people currently do not pay the under-occupancy penalty because they meet the criteria of Schedule 3 to the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2006.

Esther McVey: This information is not available.

Jobcentre Plus: Wales

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the wage rates were of casual labour posts advertised by Jobcentre Plus for (a) the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, (b) Amazon and (c) the Royal Mail in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot in the last two years.

Esther McVey: All three employers have recruited for temporary staff.
	Amazon recruits via four agencies—Tran line, AM to PM, Abacus and Assist Cymru and they all pay £6.50 per hour for day shifts and £8.25 per hour for nights.
	Royal Mail pays their temporary sorters £6.75 per hour days and £8.30 per hour nights.
	DVLA advertised their recent administrative officer vacancies on an incremental scale of £16,735 to £18,000 per annum.

Jobseeker's Allowance

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of new applications for jobseeker's allowance were made online in (a) England, (b) Cumbria and (c) Barrow and Furness constituency in the last 12 months.

Esther McVey: The official measure for JSA Online is calculated using data from MISP (Management Information System Programme), unfortunately these data are not available below national level so the information you requested is from the ADS (Atomic Data Store) data.
	The figures for England are as follows, as requested; however ADS data are only available at district and jobcentre level so we have provided the data as close as possible to your request.
	The data are not available by parliamentary constituency.
	
		
			 JSA online claims 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2013 (12 months) 
			  Total JSA online claims received Total JSA claims received % claimed online 
			 England 1,793,490 2,553,886 70.2 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 66,460 92,425 71.9 
			 Barrow Jobcentre 2,698 3,977 67.8

Jobseeker's Allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answers of 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 758W, on jobseeker's allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber and 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 756W, on employment and support allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber, how many people living in Yorkshire and the Humber receiving jobseeker's allowance (JSA) had their JSA withdrawn as a result of their alleged failure to comply with conditions laid down by his Department in October 2012 and each month since then.

Esther McVey: I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer given on 9 January 2014, Official Report, column 283W.

National Insurance

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many national insurance numbers were issued to foreign nationals from each country of birth in 2013.

Esther McVey: The available information on the number of national insurance numbers issued in 2013 to each nationality can be found at:
	https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
	Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
	https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm

National Insurance Contributions

Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with local authority associations in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland with respect to potential increased national insurance contributions resulting from the single tier pension.

Steve Webb: I have not met with the local authority associations as this is a matter for HM Treasury and the Department for Communities and Local Government.
	The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the right hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander), has had meetings with representatives from the Local Government Association where the impact of the abolition of contracting out has been discussed, and officials in DWP and HM Treasury have also recently met with Local Government Association officials.
	Following a commitment made by Lord Freud in the other place, during Second Reading of the Pensions Bill 2013 - 14, officials in DWP and HM Treasury are holding a roundtable meeting on Tuesday 14 January 2014 with representatives from the Local Government Associations to discuss the impact of the abolition of contracting out.
	The Government would expect further discussions to take place with relevant stakeholders when Departmental Budgets are set for 2016-17 onwards, when the abolition of contracting out will take effect.

National Insurance Contributions

Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost of increased national insurance contributions as a result of the Single Tier Pension for local authorities in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: We do not have such an estimate. The Government have not set a fixed spending envelope, nor individual departmental budgets, beyond 2015-16. As contracting out will be abolished in 2016-17, the impact falls outside of the current settlements. Any spending review in the next Parliament will, of course, consider the impact of increased national insurance contributions in the round.
	Table 6.1 of the impact assessment which accompanies the latest version of the Pensions Bill 2013 -14 includes estimates of increased costs for all employers as a result of the abolition of contracting out, which is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/254151/a-pensions-bill-single-tier-ia-oct-2013.pdf

Social Security Benefits

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been loaned to benefits claimants as short-term benefit advances in each month since April 2013; and how much was loaned under the crisis loan scheme in each of the 12 months up to April 2013.

Steve Webb: Crisis loans were made from a specific fund to meet immediate short-term needs in an emergency or as a consequence of a disaster when a person had insufficient resources to prevent a serious risk to the health or safety of themselves or their family.
	Unlike crisis loans, short-term benefit advances are not loans from a separate fund,
	but are advances against future benefit payment in certain specific circumstances. Where possible, benefit is put into payment rather than offering an advance. There has to be a likely benefit entitlement in order for an advance of benefit to be paid. Because of these factors, it is impossible to directly compare these advances to crisis loans for alignment to benefit.
	Table 1 shows the monthly amounts advanced since they were introduced.
	Table 2 shows the monthly expenditure on all crisis loans in 2012-13.
	
		
			 Table 1: Monthly amounts of short term benefit advances (includes amounts advanced to claimants of Universal Credit) 
			 Month Expenditure (£) 
			 2013  
			 April 297,000 
			 May 437,000 
			 June 378,000 
			 July 504,000 
			 August 484,000 
			 September 433,000 
			 October 387,000 
			 November 367,000 
			 December 1— 
			 1 Figures not yet available Note: These numbers have been gathered from the DWP Central Payments System and have been rounded to the nearest thousand. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Monthly expenditure on crisis loans in 2012-13 
			 Month Expenditure (£) 
			 2012  
			 April 8,572,300 
			 May 9,412,500 
			 June 8,956,000 
			 July 9,533,100 
			 August 9,453,500 
			 September 8,881,200 
			 October 9,765,200 
			 November 8,225,800 
			 December 6,612,600 
			   
			 2013  
			 January 8,712,500 
			 February 7,547,600 
			 March 7,097,900 
			 Notes: 1. The Crisis Loan information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics and there are some issues with the data, for example, these amounts do not include expenditure on applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System. 2. Crisis loan expenditure figures are rounded to the nearest £100.

Social Security Benefits

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the target timeframe is for processing applications for (a) disability living allowance and (b) employment and support allowance; and whether his Department is currently meeting those targets (i) nationally, (ii) in each region and (iii) in each constituency.

Michael Penning: As at November year to date (YTD) the Department is achieving clearance times nationally for processing disability living allowance (DLA) child applications. The target timeframe for processing DLA child cases is 79% of claims cleared in 40 days.
	Employment and support allowance (ESA) clearance times are also being achieved nationally and by five out of six Benefit Directorate groups. The target timeframe for processing ESA claims is 85% of claims cleared in 16 days.
	We are unable to provide the management information by constituency as our management information systems do not report this level of detail and to do so would be at disproportionate cost.
	Due to the roll-out of personal independent payment (PIP) the DLA data refer to child cases only as there are no longer new DLA claims for ages 16 to 64 processed at the regional disability centres.
	The following table summarises the latest performance available as at November 2013.
	
		
			 Speed of clearance disability living allowance (DLA) child cases and employment and support allowance (ESA) 
			 DWP Benefit Directorate performance 
			  November YTD (%) 
			 DLA  
			 DLA child cases 84.6 
			   
			 ESA  
			 National 87.5 
			 Central England 88.7 
			 London and Home Counties 83.0 
			 North East England 89.3 
			 North West 86.1 
			 Scotland 88.1 
			 Southern England and Wales 89.2 
			 Sources: 1. Management Information System Programme (MISP). MISP is a departmental performance management, data capture and reporting tool. This type of internal management information does not form part of the official statistics outputs that are released by the Department in accordance with the UK Statistics Authority's Code of Practice. 2. Department for Work and Pensions—Disability Living Allowance Management Information Statistics (RDA80123 report).

Social Security Benefits: Yorkshire and the Humber

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answers of 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 758W, on jobseeker’s allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber and 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 756W, on employment and support allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber, how many people living in Yorkshire and the Humber were receiving (a) jobseeker’s allowance, (b) employment and support allowance - support group and (c) employment and support allowance - work-related group in (i) October 2012 and (ii) each month since then.

Esther McVey: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 9 January 2014, Official Report, column 283W.

Universal Credit

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much he expects to spend on external consultants and temporary staff to deliver the Universal Credit programme in 2013-14.

Esther McVey: Forecast expenditure for 2013-14 on consultants and temporary staff to help deliver the Universal Credit programme is as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 Consultants 4.4 
			 Temporary staff 3.3

Universal Credit

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the latest date is by which his plans for the delivery of universal credit will get approval from (a) HM Treasury and (b) the Major Projects Authority.

Esther McVey: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I give her on 6 January 2014, Official Report column 65W.

Universal Credit

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he has excluded existing IT suppliers involved in the universal credit process from tendering for the digital solution part of the universal credit IT system.

Esther McVey: Capability and value for money are at the heart of our contracting process. Existing IT suppliers are not excluded from tendering for the digital solution part of the universal credit IT system. If they are entitled to bid, the Department is legally obliged to consider them. The precise requirements for this part of the UC programme are still being developed.

Universal Credit

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects to complete the tender process for the development and implementation of the digital solution part of the Universal Credit IT system.

Esther McVey: There is no single tender process for this programme. Additional resources required to deliver the digital solution, which will be a combination of departmental resource and suppliers will be brought in on an 'as required basis' and, as such, we anticipate that there will be a number of commercial arrangements.

Universal Credit

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many IT specialists in his Department are working on the development of the digital solution for the universal credit IT system.

Esther McVey: There are currently three DWP IT officials working on the development of the digital solution.

Universal Credit

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many officials from the Government Digital Service remain working on the digital solution for the universal credit IT system.

Esther McVey: There are currently five Government Digital Service officials working on the digital solution.

Universal Credit

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect on the timetable for the development of the digital solution for the universal credit IT system of the withdrawal of the Government Digital Service team.

Esther McVey: We have been very clear that DWP would take over the development of the new digital service following the initial GDS Work.
	We are currently transitioning and a team within DWP will now take the digital solution forward.

Universal Credit

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate has he made on the number of IT specialists his Department will need to recruit to (a) continue and (b) complete the digital solution for the universal credit IT system; and what the potential cost of recruiting such officials is.

Esther McVey: We estimate that the Department will need to recruit around 50 IT specialists. The recruiting of such officials has always been in the plan to complete the digital solution and therefore there are no additional costs of recruitment.

Universal Credit

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2012-13, HC20, whether the estimate of £32 million for the development of the digital solution for the Universal Credit IT system is intended to be an upper limit on the allocated budget.

Esther McVey: The estimate of £32 million for the development of the digital solution for universal credit IT, as set out in the Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2012-13, is the upper limit on the current estimates for the period up to November 14. Costs remain subject to ongoing review as plans develop.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recipients of universal credit moved into work in 2013.

Esther McVey: We are following guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority, to ensure that the published statistics on universal credit achieve a satisfactory balance between timeliness and data quality. Our strategy for the release of statistics is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics
	Statisticians within DWP and Office for National Statistics are working closely to ensure that information on universal credit claimants can be included within the claimant count as soon as possible.

Winter Fuel Payments

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on what basis the French départements d'outre mer of French Guyana, Martinique, Reunion and Guadaloupe are included as part of mainland Europe for the purpose of his Department's calculation of entitlement to winter fuel payments.

Steve Webb: Winter fuel payments can be claimed by people with a genuine and sufficient link with the UK who are resident in the European economic area (rather than mainland Europe). This includes the overseas departments of France, and winter fuel payments are currently made to those entitled who live there.

Work Capability Assessment

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library a copy of the performance targets contained in his Department's contract with Atos Healthcare for delivering the work capability assessment.

Michael Penning: A Library copy of the performance targets relating to work capability assessments is already in the public domain available through the Parliament UK website.
	This is placed in Schedule 5, Appendix 1, page 5 of the Medical Services Agreement deposited in the Library under Deposit Reference 2010-1704 dated 14 September 2010.